


Treasure At Cedar Creek

by Valo_Valmieni



Category: AFI
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9139933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valo_Valmieni/pseuds/Valo_Valmieni
Summary: The Puget family are looking to add a new member to the family this year. Within the walls of an old orphanage they find a boy by the name of Davey. They decide to welcome him into their family, but beneath Davey's  dark clothes and hair there lies a sinister secret. Jade finds himself falling for his foster brother. Will the love and care of the Puget Family coax it out? Will Jade help him heal? What is Davey's secret.





	1. To Cedar Creek

“Gosh I can’t get my hair right”  
I said to my reflection as I combed my blond fringe to the right side. Tiny blond hair kept sticking up despite of my attempts of patting it down.  
“Jade c’mon you don’t want to keep him waiting”  
I hear my mother say in a sing song voice walking up the stairs, and now peeking her head into my bedroom.  
“C’mon Jade…” she whispers smiling “Let’s give this kid a home.”  
She headed down stairs, station wagon keys jingling as she headed out the door. I looked at myself once more in the mirror straightening my Depeche mode t-shirt when I heard my dad honk the horn once but long and loud. I rolled my eyes annoyed at the fact that I was being rushed out of the house looking less than perfect. Sometimes they could be so impatient. I sure wasn’t in a hurry to go out there. It is sunny, hot, and my t-shirt is black, even though I’m in comfortable clothing the heat won’t spare me of it's brutal burn.  
I stepped into the car sighing loudly as I slammed the door shut in frustration. My mother turned around and shook her head dismissively. My parents and I were headed to “Cedar Creek Orphanage” to pick up some kid that was about my age. Shit why lie? I was excited, having little Smith around wasn’t exactly my idea of fun. He would prank neighbors with the most childish things; a fake skunk, an air horn, and the old dollar bill attached to a string were some of his favorites. Aleesha is five and she’s a girl, need I say more? So I was excited that for once in my life I was going to have someone to just skateboard and kick it with maybe talk about girls, have the guys over and eat some pizza. I pushed my forehead against the window, and looked at the sky waiting for any ideas to pop in of what to do when we first got home. I had a couple of old boards in the garage, If he didn't have one I suppose I could hand him one. What if he didn't like to skateboard? What if he was one of those meat head jock assholes. What if we were just bringing some asshole into our home? The heat of the window began to burn my forehead. I pulled my head away from the glass and try to soothe it with my palm. If I knew any better I probably had a red hot circle on that area. Fuck Ukiah’s summer weather.  
“Mom”  
“Yes Jade?” She turned around from the passenger side to face me.  
“What’s his name?”  
She bit her lower lip and looked up struggling to remember. “His name’s David…Mar..Marshman..Manshard” She rolled her eyes at herself then giggled “It’s David… I can’t ever pronounce his last name.  
“God damn it woman” my father said partially frustrated. “It’s Marchand the least we could do to make little David feel at home is know his full name”  
“Sorry honey the name just seems a bit strange that’s all, I’ll get it eventually. Just, never heard of it. I mean...he's an orphan. So I'm sure there isn't enough people with that last name walking around. Right?”  
My mother turned around opening her mouth to say something when dad slammed on the breaks. Making her jerk back into her seat.  
“WE’RE HERE!”  
We all got out of the old station wagon and headed for the entrance. Cedar creek didn’t look like an orphanage at all, just like an old, abandoned home. It had large, very old trees on the sides that seemed to bear their weight on the dilapidated building. It stood several floors high with olive green moss sticking to some of the washed out red bricks. It's as if nature was trying to take over and plague the building with dry leafs, broken, trees, and mold. There was and old wooden sign that swung just above the entrance informing visitors of it's name "Cedar Creek Orphanage". The entire site gave me chills; the sign made me want to go back to car. Cedar Creek should be a name for an asylum or a retirement home of the highway, not a place where children reside. I think I’ve seen house on haunted hill too many times. The inside however was different; it seemed new and clean too clean as a matter of fact. The smell of varnish and antiseptic filled my nose. Everything seemed very up to date so far. I guess they kept the outside creepy for protection. My parents held hands and looked at the woman in the front desk who was currently fiddling with a stack of papers while humming a eurythmics song. My parents and I just looked at one another waiting for the young woman to look up.  
“mhmm” my dad coughed loudly trying to get her attention. This caused the young woman to jump to her feet, pull the headbuds out of her ears, and drop the stack of papers simultaneously.  
“Oh I’m so sorry sir, I’ve…We don’t get a lot of visitors around here” She said smiling straightening her pencil skirt and patting her matching gray blouse down. She fiddled with her auburn hair brushing straight strands of it to the side.  
“My name is Alice How may I help you?” she smiled and shook hands with both my parents then finally me.  
“Well, we are here to pick up David Marchand” my mother answered smiling at the fact that she had gotten his last name correctly this time.  
“Oh that’s right he’s supposed to go to a foster family today, let me look for his paper work”  
The young woman sat down and began to look through a large stack of manila folders until she pulled one with a pink tab on it.  
“Ah Here it is… Ok David Marchand room 37” She bit her lip and got up  
“Let’s go give him the good news” Alice led the long way clicking her stilettos against the linoleum floor through a door to the right of her desk.  
We all stepped into an elevator. Alice pushed the button to the 4th floor and she turned to speak.  
“David was brought to Cedar Creek by the police about three weeks ago; he lived in an abusive home with his uncle. His uncle was his legal guardian after his parents passed away a year ago, but a report was made to his high school by one of his teachers who noticed… um” There Alice looked at me a little concerned and stopped talking the elevator stopping with her voice. She smiled a little holding back a few tears and led the way to a white door that read 37. She stepped in front of the door facing us as a family and then looked at me smiling. Remaining collected.  
“Do you want to meet him?”  
I nodded up and down feeling uneasy with her behavior time and glanced at my parents to see if they concurred with the events that were about to follow.  
“Ok…While you get acquainted with David I’m going to have a little chat with your parents, about regulations and such”  
With that she opened the door and let me in. Alice gently closed the door after letting me inside. I could hear her heels clicking further and further as I stared at what was in front of me. In the room there was a shaking figure on small metal bed right in the centre. The Room had a bedside table, with a plastic chair, and a tiny closet. I could see the figure’s features and I could tell it wasn’t asleep, he was looking at me with one large, glazed eye. It followed my movements, my hands as I stuffed them into my pockets trying to seem unassuming. He was pale, and had long raven hair covering part of his square features.  
“Hi David” I walked a bit closer “You’re coming with us today, my name’s Jade”  
He sat up on the bed slowly, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His long raven hair covering his entire face now making him appear even more sombre.  
“It…It’s Davey, not David” His voice soft barely a whisper.  
He got up and took out a suitcase from the closet, where empty hangers hung. From afar I could tell he never unpacked his clothes because there was a light layer of dust on the hangers . He slipped on some creepers, and I couldn’t help but notice that he was all in black and wearing a sweater with “The Cure” artwork on it. Davey looked like a giant black dot roaming around the white room.  
Davey sniffed and stood up hunching and forming a hair curtain between us, his suitcase in hand.  
“Ok…I’m ready” he announced his voice about to break.  
“Oh um…we can’t go out there until Alice is done talking to my parents”  
He sniffed once more, setting his suitcase down and giving himself a reassuring hug. I don’t know what happened to Davey but it didn’t look good at all, he wouldn’t make eye contact or even move normally. The whole time It looked like he was avoiding to bend over, raise his head, or even walk normally.  
“So um how old are you Davey?”  
“I…I’m fifteen”  
“Oh cool” I said in a cautious voice “me too…I uh…I see you like the cure…so do I… they’re a great band, what’s your favorite song from them?”  
He looked up shyly and with a small broken smile he said  
“Just Like Heaven”  
That's when his eyes captured mine for the first time. They were deep chocolate brown, and they held a secret inside. They were beautiful sad looking eyes lined with what seemed to be hundreds of lashes. His nose was thin perfection, and his lips were a bit plump adorned with a silver hoop on the lower right side. In random areas of his perfect face were lavender marks, and a one inch scrape on the side of his forehead. I was about to tell him what my favorite song was when Alice broke into the room smiling, her eyes puffy and red as if she’d been crying. Her heels clicked with each step as she came close to David and gave him a hug.  
“Come on David let’s get you home… Do you need me to help you with your suitcase” Alice padded his shoulder.  
David just stood there looking about the room and shook his head side to side sliently, then looked at me and smiled a bit and began to head out the door. He timidly waved hello to my parents and we all headed out. Davey walked slow and grunted from time to time. I wasn’t sure why, but when I turned to my parents to search for answers they just gave me an empathetic look.


	2. Welcome Home Davey

The trip back home was quiet, hot, and uncomfortable. I wiped the sweat form my forehead and sighed looking over at Davey who seemed to have a lot on his mind. His mouth formed a frown.  
“Jesus fucking Christ Davey…Aren’t you hot?” I asked nodding at his sweater.  
He turned to look at me a bit scared for my choice of words.  
“n..no…I…I’m fine”  
I could see his body was betraying him. Davey had beads of sweat trickling down his face.  
“Dude take your sweater off, it’s hot and you’re sweating like a pig I understand if you’re one of those guys who sweats a bucket really it’s ok, you’ll feel cooler once you take it off” I chuckled.  
“I…I like wearing a sweater…I don’t want…my…”   
Davey trailed off, looked down and began to sob silently hugging himself all the way home. My mother turned to look at me blankly and gave Davey a sympathetic look. When we got home I carried Davey’s suitcase upstairs. My mother stayed behind to talk to Davey and all I could hear was “it’s Ok sweaty” I wiped more sweat off my forehead and headed down stairs only to find my parents in the kitchen making dinner and Davey sobbing alone on the far end corner of couch. I got closer to Davey. I walked on eggshells and eased my hand on his shoulder.  
“Sorry if I made you feel weird in the car, want to go to my room so you can lie on your bed or something?”  
He wiped a few tears with the back of his hand looking up at me. He had dark circles around his eyes.  
“Ok…I…ok”  
“Come up here Davey I think you’ll like your bed, it’s not much but it’s hella cozy”  
I ran upstairs and stood in my doorway waiting for him to come up, he sure was slow. Eventually he got upstairs and into my room. He looked around smiling at the posters that covered my walls.  
"wow..." his mouth slack.  
"you like it?"  
"Yeah...I...love queen." he said softly placing a hand on the poster of screaming Freddie Mercury.  
"Great, if you want after dinner we can listen to some music, then after that if you're not too tired we can go skateboard or something"  
He turned to look at me, he shivered a little smiling.   
"I haven't listened to anything I actually like in about a year; my uncle wouldn't let me because he said all the music I liked was for fags"  
Davey sat on his bed pursing his lips and playing with his hands. It looked like he was starting to drown in his own world of thought, when I decided to shatter it.  
"Well, you're home now and you can listen to whatever you like"  
I walked over and gave him a hug. His hair was cool the skin of his face smooth, and overall he had a sweet scent to him that made me want to hold him longer and protect him from what haunted him. He seemed so fragile and vulnerable. I must've been holding for a little to long because his shaking body interrupted my thoughts. I slowly let go of Davey and studied his face for a while. His eyes were tightly shut, and his lower lip was quivering.  
"J..Jade...Ple...Please don't hurt me"  
He must've been through so much. Poor guy, I give him a hug and he thinks I want to hurt him when all I want to do is the opposite.  
"I 'm not going to hurt you" I smiled.  
"Sorry...I'm just...forget it" he frowned, looking down letting out a breath of frustration.  
I sat next to him occasionally glancing at his face. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but I had to know what really happened to him.   
"Davey?"  
He blinked a few times before turning to look at my feet.  
"yeah?"  
"um...if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm always here to listen" I coed a little eager to comfort him.  
"Thanks Jade" He looked down at the floor and stared thoughtfully, he was about to say something else when Aleesha ran into the room screaming at the top of her lungs. Her screeching voice breaking the sad silence.  
"JADE! MOM SAYS DINNER'S READY. JADE. JADE. JADEY... I.. OH WHO'S THIS?" She got close to him... too close. She climbed on his lap, her small face just inches away from Davey's.  
"WOW...You're such a pretty girl, are you Jade's girlfriend? If you are will you fix my pig tails? mom always puts the rubby bands on to loose.  
"ALEESHA!" I shouted. A mix of anger and embarrassment in my voice.   
"This is Davey, he's going to be living with us. That means that you have a new older brother and you have to be nice to him" Aleesha's eyes on Davey the whole time I spoke.  
"well... I"  
"Aleesha do you understand?" I asked in strict yet maternal voice.  
"Yes... I do Jadey" she smiled brightly while she kept her eyes on him, twirling a piece of his hair with her tiny fingers.  
"I don't care if you're a boy, I still think you're pretty, and your hair is so soft" She sniffed Davey a little. "Yummy you smell good too".   
My face was about to melt off due to the embarrassment little Aleesha was causing me, but it only took Davey's genuine smile to cool me down. That was the first real smile he'd shown all day.  
"Thanks Aleesha" He replied giving her a soft hug.  
"welcome Davey" she said climbing off his lap and running out of my room.  
"JADE DINNER!" my mom announced from the bottom of the staircase.  
"COMING!" I screamed.  
"Come on lets go wash up" I said to Davey who was still smiling from Aleesha's little visit.  
I led him to the bathroom and began washing up next to him. The sleeves of his hoodie hanging dangerously close to the faucet.  
"How old is Aleesha?" he smiled.  
"Oh she, tuned five about four months ago, she can be a handful sometimes, she's very...opinionated and honest" I Smiled rinsing my wrists.   
Davey continued to struggle with his hand washing, when he finally gave up and rolled his sleeves. I turned to search for the towel when I caught the reflection of his arms. He had bruises and cuts in every inch of skin and something that looked like a cigarette burn, a particular bruise that stood out from the rest was a large hand print on his left wrist. It was fading but still visible. I realized I was staring so I averted my eyes and continued to dry my hands, Davey still smiling got a corner of the towel and dried himself to.


	3. Dinner with Davey

At the dinner table I couldn't stop thinking about what I saw, and I thought about why Alice didn't want me to hear the rest of his story. My parents had prepared spaghetti and veggie burgers for Davey and I. It turns out I'm no longer the only veggie kid in the house. I was thrilled to know that we already had so much in common, and on top of it we were both vegetarian. Davey quickly got comfortable thanks to Aleesha's encouragement upstairs. My parents were pleased to see him smiling. They tried to make small talk with him, and many times they would get gentle nods or very quiet answers, some of them barely a whisper. We were all enjoying dinner when we all heard a puppy like yelp come from Davey.

"Ahhhh!"  
"David What's wrong honey?" My mother asked concerned getting up from her seat.  
Davey startled and wide eyed knees touching his chest as he stared at the floor

"Ha ha ha, sorry Davey that was meant for Jade not you" Smith chuckled. Spaghetti strands falling out of his mouth.  
There on the kitchen floor laid a small grey synthetic mouse. My mother hugged Davey protectively, then got up placing her hands on her waist.

"Smith...What have I told you about pranks in the kitchen?

"I said sorry mom, and I didn't know Jade was going to switch places with Davey and..."

"Enough! I’ve told you not to pull pranks in the kitchen it's very dangerous, and people can get hurt. Now apologize to David."  
Smith frowned a little.

"Sorry Davey, and sorry mom"

"good, now finish your dinner" mom said picking up the mouse from the floor with her thumb and index finger giving to smith.

Davey finished his dinner in no time, and in about an hour and and a half we were back in our room, listening to queen just as I promised.  
I want to break free, blasted out of the speakers and I sang along loudly dancing to the song carelessly. I chuckled and turned to look at Davey who was lying on his bed with his eyes closed.

"Have you seen the video for this Davey?...The whole band is in drag!  
Davey looked at me and said something softly. I couldn’t make out his soft voice over the music so I lowered the volume and sat in the corner of his bed.

"what?" I said a bit confused.  
Davey sat up and glanced at me. Straight face, eyes set on the floor.

"That's why my uncle said I was a fag, the first time I saw that video he yanked my hair, slapped me, and said that in a fagot relationship I would be the whore." His eyes began to well up with tears and in less than a few seconds he was sobbing into his hands.  
I stared at him in sympathetically and scooted closer to him.

"Davey you're not...any of those things, your uncle is a horrible man that deserves the worst for hurting you" 

Davey was now sobbing uncontrollably, and I had no other choice but to hug him for a second time that day. I rocked his small frame in my arms until his tears stopped and his breathing became soft and even. I peeled his face away my shirt and noticed he had fallen asleep, tightly clutching my shirt. I gently placed him down and walked over to the light switch, flicking the lights off. The moonlight peering through the curtains. I was about to lie in my own bed when Davey's whimpering caught my attention.

"no please...stop...don't hurt me...no not that...ow..no"  
His whimpering got progressively louder and he began to thrash around in his sheets, tangling them into a knot around his body.

“NO! …OW!..ow…ow…stop…stop”

I looked at his delicate features change under the moonlight until his whimpering finally stopped. His last words whispers.


	4. Falling for you

Weeks went by and Davey and I had become the best of friends. He spoke a lot, and I couldn't help but notice that he only spoke this much when I was around. His voice remained low, but not as low as the first time we met. If I at least wasn't anywhere near him he wouldn't act the same. When people on the street or even my parents tried to speak to him, he would just look away or look down completely avoiding the situation.. Strangely this pleased me a little, I was happy that Davey felt as comfortable around me as I did around him. Somewhere along the line I became his security blanket, when we wouldn't talk we'd share smiles and glances. I introduced Davey to Adam and Hunter, some guys from school in hopes of helping him out of shell a little. Every other day I tried to get him to skateboard with me and the guys but he would just nod no.

"C'mon man It'll be alright, if you fall it's not a big deal you just get back up" Hunter handed the board to Davey who was now blushing looking at hunter a bit out of the corner of his eye.

"yeah, and once you get the hang of it it's hella fun you won't want to get off" Adam reassured smiling.

"take it... c'mon" Hunter coed.

I gave Davey a devious grin and took the board from Hunter's hand placing on the sidewalk.   
"C'mere Davey" I smiled at him securing the board with my foot and holding out a welcoming hand towards him. "I show you how.”  
Davey regarded me unsure and took baby steps towards me taking my hand. He was trembling a bit and his palms were sweaty.  
"ok...what do I do?"

"here... put your right foot up here, and push yourself with the left. I won’t let go I promise"  
He followed my instructions and I held him by the hand. The board was moving slow, but at a steady pace. Adam and Hunter grew a little impatient.

"Dude do you mind if we get just a little ahead while you show Davey?"

"of course not Hunt"

"Ok then I'm going to take your board, we won’t leave you behind Adam just wants to show me some trick he learned yesterday"

"Ok...watch out for cars"  
I continued to secure Davey with my hand until I felt that he was about to fall.

"Ah!" Davey gasped"  
I instinctively held him by the waist. Jerking him away from the floor.

"Shhh It's ok I've got you" I glanced down at his unsteady legs and then his scared face.

He had such a tiny waist, and the ends of his raven hair tickled my forearm as I held him tight. The moisture from his back seeping through his sweatshirt on to my arm. We looked into each other’s eyes searching for something only we both knew, but unclear of what that was. He looked so beautiful. We continued holding on to each other like this for a awhile, until the board slipped from under his feet and rolled away.

"OH!" He clanged to my shirt frightened of almost falling.

"I've got you, it's ok" I sought for his eyes. "Wasn't that fun?"

"Well yeah I guess" he whispered " I only liked one part" An unsure smile playing on his lips.

"really what's that?" I smiled.

Without hesitation Davey leaned close to me, stood on his tippy toes, and whispered.  
"The part where you held me very close." His hot breath ghosting over my ear.

I looked at Davey in shock. Wondering If this was really happening.  
and we shared an intense moment for about ten seconds before I broke the silence with the only question that echoed my mind.  
"Why?" nervousness present in my voice.

He stuttered a bit before giving me an answer. He looked down blushing putting up a hair curtain between us, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Clearly regretting what he just said.

"Well...It’s...I... just feel very safe with you Jade. i'm sorry it came out like that, I should've word it differently" He stuttered a bit at the end of the sentence, crossed his arms and turned away from trying to hide.

My stomach flip flopped . I brushed his hair behind his ear and caressed his soft face with the back of my hand.  
"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you feel safe with me"

Davey closed his eyes sighing peacefully leaning closer to my touch. His cheeks warm, and moist with the summer heat. I looked down at him and, got a bit closer. His eyes remained closed while my face danced just inches away from his. Musky teen boy sweat mixed with vanilla scent that belonged to Davey lingered in the air. I delicately held him by the shoulders , when I felt eyes on me.

"What are you guys doing?" Adam asked, his mouth twisted.

"Dude were you going to kiss Davey?" Hunter chuckled.

My eyes fluttered open, and my hands remained on Davey's shaking shoulders.  
"No...I...he almost fell,..he got something in his eye...so...I.."

"Man you were going to kiss Davey and you ain't go no alibi. Don't worry man we won't tell anyone, right Adam?" Hunter laughed giving Adam a playful nudge.

Adam stood there still in shock over what he witnessed and raised an eyebrow.” Jade isn't Davey supposed to be like your brother or something?"

"Yes and I wasn't going to do anything to him, he got something in his eye...and" I was cut off by the sound of Davey running.


	5. It's summer. Why the sweater?

"Davey come back!" I screamed chasing after him.

Adam and Hunter somewhere near behind me.  
I ran three blocks till I spotted Davey sitting under a tree of the neighborhood park. I knelled in front of him caressing his long hair.  
"Davey? I asked carefully

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of the guys" He sobbed and tucked his head between his knees hugging himself.

"You didn't embarrass me, the guys were just playing around. Right guys?" I shot them both a glare  
Hunter stood with his skateboard at hand and eyed Adam a couple of times before speaking.

"yeah we were just horsing around Dave...we're sorry"

"Um yeah no worries. Hey you guys want to go for some Ice cream? Attempting to kill the awkwardness of the moment Adam waved a twenty dollar bill in the air? "My treat."

"fuck yeah Adam" Hunter scowled at him.

Adam mouthed a sorry at Hunter touching his shoulders to his ears.  
"sure Adam" I continued to caress Davey, helping him up.

"Ok.. cool, come on guys" Adam and Hunter led the way to a nearby ice cream shop. Once inside the air felt ice cold in comparison to the hellish heat outside. The floors were white styled with primary colored polka dots. stools and booths were plastic covered in red faux leather. Davey and I picked a booth while Hunter and Adam decided on a flavor.  
"here" Hunter handed me the skateboards and I placed them under the table.

"What flavor do you guys want?"

"Oh I'll have cookies and cream, What about you Davey?" I turned to look at him. His eyes lit a little.

"chocolate please" he licked his lips and toyed with his hands.

"cookies and cream, chocolate... got it" Hunter jogged to Adam.

I looked over at Davey who was still toying with his hands but now looking outside the window. He swung his legs a little, he looked so innocent sometimes, when his world wasn’t keeping him from enjoying life in general. Adam and Hunter interrupted my thoughts of Davey when they came back with four ice cream cones.

"Cookies and cream for Jade, and Chocolate for Davey" Adam handed us our ice cream, and sat down next to Hunter triumphantly smiling at all of us .

"Hey Davey I didn't get you regular chocolate, instead I got you dark chocolate fudge. I know how much you like chocolate" Adam informed him. "I hope you like"

"Thanks Adam" He grinned and took his first lick.

"gee Ad, that sure looks dark" I laughed wide eyed staring at Davey's peculiar ice cream cone.

"Dude that's going to dye you intestines black" Hunter told Davey, A green mustache beginning to form on his upper lip.

"and you're going to have green poop tomorrow morning" Adam teased.  
Hunter Scowled and furred his brows.

“Well at least my turds wont smell like cookie dough” Ice cream still in his mouth.  
Everyone laughed hysterically. We continued to talk about random subjects in the ice cream shop long after we finished until our stomachs were full, and our eyes were heavy with post ice cream binge syndrome. It was near closing time and the young girl at the counter kept kicking us out of there with her tired eyes. The sun had died and the guys decided it was time to call it a night.

"wait I have to go pee" Davey announced beaming.  
I moved over so that he could get through when our faces met and I giggled.

"whoa there Hitler, hold on you got a little something going on there" I picked up a napkin from the center of the table and pressed it to Davey's lips. 

"lick"

Davey blushed and cooperated. His tongue was moist and cold against the napkin. I gently wiped the little chocolate mustache off his face and looked into his big brown eyes for a minute.  
"all done"

He shot me a coy smile.  
"I'll be back"

I sat back down on the booth, the puzzled faces of Adam and Hunter staring right at me. 

"whoa, you sure are taking the brother thing seriously" Hunter furred his eyebrows, Adam stared at me with concern and then smiled.  
"yup you sure are"

I felt my cheeks grow hot.   
"I just feel very protective of him that’s all. He's been through a lot" my smile disappearing as I remembered the first time I saw his bruised up face.

Adam gently padded his bloated stomach and looked at me for a while. "like what?"

"Well from what I've heard his parents passed away a year ago, and since then he was living with his abusive uncle. Something worse happened. By the looks of it must've been pretty bad because the police was involved. That's how he ended up in foster care."  
Hunter kept a straight face. "has he said anything to you, about what happened?"

"no, we haven’t spoken about it yet. Everything I know came from the lady at the front desk at the orphanage, but he hasn't said anything."  
Adam nodded quietly "why does he always wear a sweater? He always has that thing on no matter how hot it is"  
I shrugged looking down at the ice cream stained table, thinking about the question I asked my self weeks ago. Then remembering what I saw.

"beats me"

"what beats you?" 

We all turned our heads to Davey who was standing awkwardly beside the booth. It's almost as if he knew we'd been talking about him. Adam and Hunter let out a long sigh and stood up grabbing their boards from underneath the table.

"We have to head home it's dark and mom's gonna kick my ass" Hunter gave a nudge to Davey who remained still.

"Yup that was fun, I hope you liked your ice cream Dave" Adam gave him gentle pat on the back.

"I did, thanks Ad" a week smile forming on his lips. It was barely even a smile.

"catch you guys around" I waved at them as they walked out of the shop.

"C'mon Davey, we have to get home to. Do you want to try and skate there?" I asked quickly trying to kill the tension.  
Davey remained silent for a while and looked at me with shiny eyes.

"You guys were talking about me weren't you?"  
He looked at me curious, shy, sad.

"Well yeah, sort of...Adam was asking why you always wear a sweater."

"what did you tell them?" 

Davey looked worried and began to toy with his sleeves.   
"that's when I said it beats me." I got up and looked down at him analyzing his expressions. 

He looked away, turned on his heel and walked out of the shop. I followed wondering If I had upset him once more. He stood outside arms crossed in front of his chest, lips quivering, eyes glossy with tears he was trying to hold back. Staring blankly at the empty streets.  
"Davey I'm..."

"No don't. Save it. You didn't do anything." He closed his eyes, small tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"Jade I didn't ask for any of this. I wish I could be a normal fifteen year old boy like Adam, Hunter, and you. I hate this. I hate the person I am. I hate having to hide myself from the world, because of what…because of what that asshole did to me. Please...lets just go home"

For the six blocks back home I walked close to Davey, his eyes remained on the ground. His mind out of the moment, out of this world. I brushed my fingers against his as we walked. I tested the waters to make sure I wouldn't upset him any further. I blindly reached for his hand, and caught it. He didn't smile, look at me, or flinch away. Instead he interlaced his fingers with mine and squeezed it. He leaned closer and placed his head on my shoulder. We remained like this until we finally got home as he wished.


	6. Underneath your clothes

We'd developed a routine . Usually after hanging out with the guys which meant either skating from late aternoon till dusk, or going to random punk shows we headed home for showers. We talked and and listened to music past midnight depending on our level of fatigue. The one who was the dirtiest would hit the shower first. While Davey showered I played guitar, he would come into the room fully clothed, slightly damp hair up in a bun. I'd kill the lights and finally drift into a light sleep. After Davey had fallen asleep I'd stay awake and listen to his sad lullaby. Every night in his sleep he would cry, whimper, and talk. It was only then when I could look into his mind and comb for answers to the many questions that remained in the surface. I still hadn’t pick up anything that made sense, most of the time he would just mumble incoherent thoughts and lashed violently in his own bed

We got back from a show with the guys I showered and waited for Davey on my bed. I kept the lights on so that he wouldn't trip with the darkness of the house. My tired eyes stung with the light, it wasn't just the light. Somehow I still had drops of sweat inside my eyes from the show, mine and more than likely other people's. I rolled over to stare at the wall, he always took longer than I did I'm guessing it's his hair. He always managed to keep it so beautiful even in hot humid weather. I began to picture his big brown doe eyes and the soft wavy hair that went with them when my room went pitch black. I blinked a few times trying to get used to the darkness. I felt cold drops of some fluid on my hand. 

"Jade, will you comb my hair for me...please?"

I slowed my breaths finding out it was just Davey soaking wet after his shower standing by my bed. Then I realized what he'd just asked.  
"y...yeah sure"

"um...turn your night light on". I obeyed an rolled over to turn my lemonheads night light on. he wore a black guns n roses t- shirt with black sweatpants. I wiggled a little to the side to make room for him. 

"here" he handed me a black comb. "I towel dried my hair but it's still too wet"

"It's ok, It ill dry up a little more once I comb it" I assured him.

He sat down between my legs cross legged facing away from me. I'd never brushed long hair before not even Aleesha's and this was a totally new and exciting experience. I began to comb his hair with my right hand and caress his soft wet curls with the other. His shoulders lowering with every brush. Vanilla scent escaping the hair jungle tickled my nose. The only sound in the room were the crickets outside and his gentle breathing. Personally I couldn't breathe too often. I held on to every breath, afraid that if I breathed more than I should or made any sudden movement time would fly by and steal him away from me. I didn't want this to end, combing his hair was the best excuse to touch him. I put the comb down and began to massage his scalp with my fingertips, making a small moan escape his lips.  
"oh, that feels so good"

I was surprised at my body's reaction to the moan. My pajama pants began to feel tight, and my mouth watered. This felt so pleasantly wrong. I got a bit closer and began to ghost my lips over his neck snaking my arms around his small waist. I placed one gentle kiss on his cool, soft, pale neck. He was shaking, but not resisting, or at least that's what I thought. I kissed his neck once more and began to involuntarily rub against him. He moved his head to one side giving me more skin to kiss. I caught a glimpse of his face his eyes were shut, mouth slack . I leaned back on the bed he was now lying on top of me facing up as I began to explore his body. I dragged my hands over his nipples while I continued to kiss his soft flesh. I rubbed his stomach, hip bones everywhere my hands could reach. His scent was intoxicating, his very presence was numbing to the bone. My hands were in the hem of shirt now. I was sinking deeper into the world that was Davey until his voice pulled me back into reality.  
"J...Jade wait...no don't. Please" He begged,

My hands froze at the sound of his voice. I don't know what I was thinking. It’ looked Davey didn't like this at all. He sounded scared to say the least.

"I'm sorry Davey...I...I don't know what got into me." I covered my mouth with my hands and lifted him off me ashamed of what I'd done. 

"I'm so sorry" I repeated my eyes watery with sudden guilt.

Davey turned to look at me and this time I was the one who looked away. I felt stupid, like some old creep after a young girl. I couldn’t look at Davey after what I just did.  
"Jade, no. I..I like it when you touch me. It feels different, I'm just scared" He said searching for my hand and squeezing it. He let out a slow shaky breath.

"You make me feel like I can breathe again" I carefully looked into Davey's eyes. They were so full of honesty and sweetness. He crawled closer to me and locked into stare for about five seconds before he crashed his lips into mine. Our noses torched as we shared hot breath. I cupped his face with both hands and gently began to entangle my fingers into his hair at the base of his scalp . He parted his lips a little making our teeth click. We gently broke the kiss and looked into each others eyes once more. I pushed a long lock of black hair behind his ear and rested my hand on the crock of his neck.

"Don't be scared"

"I can't help it" His face thoughtful.

"what are you so afraid of Davey? You can tell me" my voice soft and confident.

"I…I'm afraid that you wont like what you see, and that after you see it...you might not want me anymore" Davey slowly sank back into himself and before I knew it his face was in his hands while he began to cry. I scooted close to him and held him in a tight embrace kissing the top of his head.

"Davey I know you've been through a lot and to be frank with you I don't know exactly what, but I'm sure that no mater what I'll still want you. I'll still care about you. 

His crying had all but ceased and I had to tell him what I felt otherwise he would never know how important he was to me, even if he didn't see it that way. I paused for a moment, leaning very close to make sure he would hear me.  
"I'll still…love you"

He leaned deeper into the tight hug, still crying.

"You don't have to hide from me Davey." I padded his back and he looked up at me he was still crying only this time his eyes sparkled with hope. "Trust me."

He wiped his eyes and pressed his lips to mine, this time with less passion but a lot more tender. The salty taste of his tears mixing with our saliva. He settled between my legs and lifted his arms up as if surrendering.  
"ok Jade" He choked. "Go ahead I..I trust you." He tightly shut his eyes and waited.

I softly lifted his shirt and tossed it to the side. Some part of me still thinking that I would see the typical insecurities of a fifteen year old kid, but I was instantly shocked at the sight before me. There were bite marks, cuts, and scratches that covered his entire arms and torso. some were old, some were still healing, and some even looked fresh . His skin was covered in bruise graffiti with years of abuse and not one, like Alice had said. His hair was hiding something else. I brushed his wet hair out of the way for a better view and couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped my lips. There in large letters that covered half of his back was the word "whore" staring back at me. The cuts were deep as if they had been done with a jagged edged object or a knife. They were heeling but that didn't alter the effect of the shock that still coursed through my veins. I traced my fingers over the cruel word and Davey trembled at my touch. He began to breathe a little heavier. Hyperventilating, trying his best not to cry but failing miserably.

"H...he hurt me so much Jade..." 

"Oh… my God Davey." My hand still moving gingerly across his back. He hissed sucking in air through his teeth.

"Ow..."

"sorry" I managed to say, still in shock.

I slowly inclined forward to place a gentle kiss on his back, and he flinched.  
"Some of them will heel, others I'm not so sure anymore. I want to get tattoos someday to cover all this ugliness with something beautiful"

Tears were flowing but he coped to flash me an apathetic smile. I held him tight and brought him down with me on the bed, pulling the covers above us. We laid facing each other, waiting for the darkness to lure us into a deep sleep. He nuzzled his cold face against my chest breathing calmly, while I inhaled his sweet scent. I held him close staring at him in wonder, wanting to hold on to him like this forever and protect him form all his fears. His eyes began to get weary, and before I knew it he was sleeping lucidly.

"This is not even half of the awful things he did. The biggest wound is invisible, but it's the worst one of them all." He let out a long slow breath as if a fifty pound weight had been lifted off his body.  
I furred my brows in the dark still holding on to his body.

“Davey…what happened?”  
He laid there still his breathing remained constant, no reply. I lightly pulled his head away form my chest and observed his face recognizing he was talking in his sleep again. Only this was the first time he wasn’t thrashing violently like other nights.


	7. Healing old wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *DAVEY’S POINT OF VIEW*

It took everything in me not to swat Jade away. I knew it was jade touching and kissing me, but it was so hard not to picture…”him” doing it. I still remembered everything, every touch, every hit, every cut he etched on my skin, every painful thrust. I love Jade, and I was so happy when he said he loved me too. Since my parent’s death no one has treated me with love or at least with respect, but Jade did. Jade was gentle, kind, and very protective.   
In a way I did regret showing him my body, he looked frightened, shocked, and maybe a little disgusted. I couldn’t say no after the way he asked, after he said he loved me. He held me so tight after that and he didn’t let me go. I knew I could trust Jade and I wanted to tell him what happened to me though he probably had an idea already, or at least that’s what I thought. I wanted more than anything in the world to tell him so I began.

"This is not even half of the awful things he did. The biggest wound is invisible, but it's the worst one of them all." I let out a long breath still keeping my eyes closed for refuge, as if keeping them closed would save me from Jade’s reaction. I felt him shift his weight shift a little, and I could feel his stare tear a hole on my face.

“Davey…what happened?”  
I heard the curiosity and concern in his voice and I began to weigh the consequences to my latest decision. I could either tell him and get this horrid problem out of the way, risking that he’ll probably wont want anything with me once he knows. Or I could pretend to sleep and continue a walking mystery to the guy I loved, playing it safe. I decided that I would tell him sometime this week, but not now. Not after he just saw my desecrated flesh. The timing would be awful, then he would really freak out. So I remained quiet, fibbing a deep sleep in the arms of Jade. My Jade.  
It was Wednesday morning and I slept lightly when I felt warm lips on mine followed by a large thin hand on my lower back, pulling me against Jade’s warm body.

“Morning Davey”  
I slowly opened my eyes smiling tenderly at the gentle awakening I received.

“Morning”

“How did you sleep sweetie?” Jade asked curiously propping his head with one arm, staring at me lovingly.

“Like…a prince” I looked into his eyes and shared the peaceful silence. I noticed he shifted a little looking around in thought. What’s wrong?

“Davey…did um…” He paused using his free hand to comb his hair back nervously. “did you know…that you talk in your sleep?”  
Oh no. He remembered what I said, what do I do? Think Davey think…shit.

“Uh…no I didn’t. I’m sorry did I disturb you. I answered carefully, averting my eyes a bit.

“No you didn’t. Don’t worry. You do it every night actually, you mumble a lot, toss a lot, and…sometimes even cry” He blushed a little with the last part, still combing his hair.

Ok I know last night I faked something like it, but I had no idea that I actually did this every night. I wonder what kind of things I said, I wondered if Jade knew already and he was just waiting for me to say something to him in my waking life.  
“Oh…sorry about that” I said genuinely apologetic more to myself than to him.

“I normally don’t think much of it Dave, but…last night you said something that really left me thinking” He trailed off and held my hand caressing his thumb over my knuckles.  
Oh no he wants me to tell him now. No no no no, this isn’t happening.

“What did I say?” I played dumb, and felt I like Jade could see right through my horrible acting.  
“Last night you said that this…” he lightly touched a cut on my left arm. “wasn’t even half of the things he did to you, and that the biggest wound..."

The phone began to ring and Jade let out a frustrated sight as he rolled his eyes, getting up picking up the receiver.  
“I’ll tell you later” he said flatly.

“Hello…hey, yeah Hunt. No man I just woke up. Hunt says hi Davey” He looked at me shaking his head side to side while I waved my hand playfully. “yeah he says hi too Hunt, What’s up? Friday! Fuck yeah man I’m there. Davey would love it…”  
Jade continued talking, and I silently thanked Hunter. That was a close one. I honesty don’t think I could’ve told him right now, specially in the morning when we had the whole day ahead of us. It would be nothing but awkwardness and unwanted hurtful thoughts throughout the whole day. My thoughts were interrupted by Aleesha quietly intruding Jade’s room. She tippy toed towards me, her bunny footy pajamas making her ninja silent. I greeted her with a gentle smile and then remembered I was shirtless. I panicked and searched for my shirt while she climbed on her bed clutching her teddy bear. I had spotted it moments later by Jade’s feet it was far from arm’s reach , so I quickly went for the blanket to cover my scars.

“It’s ok Davey…I’ve seen Jadey shirtless lots and lots of times.” She traced her little cold hand over my nipple and it hardened. I looked at her scared out of my wits.

“Mommy made pancakes with maple syrup, and fresh squeezed orange juice, milk, or coffee if you’re hungry” she said as she focused on my nipple and continued to touch it. 

“What happened here?” Her little face innocent, and her hand still on four one inch scratch marks around my nipple.  
I closed my eyes tightly remembering that day.  
****

“No…no…please stop, I’ll clean it up I promise” He yanked me by the hair and slapped me hard across the face, it burned.

“Juice is fucking expensive you little fag, I’ve had it with you and now you’ll pay for it” His hands roughly pulling my shirt off.  
“You’re a WHORE and whores show their tits! Come ‘ere faggot”  
“No…I’m sorry…No please stop… you’re hurting me.” I cried while he painfully tugged on my left nipple, dragging his dirty fingernails across the skin leaving four bleeding scratches.  
“OW!”  
He began to bite and suck on it while he painfully pinched and tugged the other, his alcohol scented breath agitating my cuts.  
I opened my eyes trying my best not to cry in front of Aleesha.

****  
“I fell” I said emotionless.

She continued to touch my nipple and frowned a little before meeting her eyes with mine, and noticing the small scar on my neck.  
“You fall a lot don’t you Davey. I’ll be back…don’t move” she announced eagerly.  
Knowing that by the end of the week I was finally going to tell Jade everything made have more flashbacks than I did before. Anything brought up memories of that horrible day, something as simple as a scent or a touch would suddenly remind me of his chapped lips roughly kissing my skin. His huge fists pounding my body, the way he pulled my hair. I saw Aleesha rushing into the room again only this time she had peroxide and a large box of ban aids with a few cotton balls. Her teddy bear hanging form her mouth as she climbed on the bed, while I just stared at her perplexed .

“Here…teddy will help you feel better” She smiled handing me the little teddy bear.  
I took it smiling at her sudden action, staring into the little plastic eyes and the happy snout.

“Thanks Aleesha” I held the teddy bear with one arm as I watched her pour a little peroxide on a cotton ball. She began to dab the peroxide on my nipple.

“This stings a little but you’ll feel better Davey” She stuck out her tongue to the side for concentration as she went from my nipple to the scar on my neck.

She was so innocent, The wounds had heeled by now. They were just scars and I wasn’t sure if in the future I would have faint lines, or if they would heel entirely. I was thankful for Aleesha’s concern, she’s a sweet little girl.

“Ok…now we’re ready for the ban aids. Look I got the ones with little hearts!” She informed me while she ripped the wrapping of them and gently placed them on the cuts.

“There…good as new, now there’s just one more thing left” I smiled and looked at her closely as she leaned her little head towards my chest, placing a small warm kiss on my nipple.

“Ok then Hunter, let me tell Dave he’ll love it. Ok bye. Dave guess what…? Jade turned around witnessing Aleesha kissing my nipple. He tilted his head to the side wide eyed and then smiled. “Aleesha what in the world are you doing?”  
Jade laughed picking Aleesha up and placing her on his lap, poking her tiny nose with one long finger.

“Davey falls a lot Jadey, so I made him feel better” She smiled hugging Jade. He turned and gave me a dreamy look while he still spoke to her.

“Is that so Leesha?” She nodded happily still hugging him.

“Did it work Davey, do you feel better?”  
I felt my cheeks grow hot and nodded running my fingers along the band aid.

“Yes. You’re a great nurse Aleesha” I padded her honey colored pigtails, and she hopped from Jades lap to mine hugging me tightly placing many kisses on my face before grabbing teddy ad jumping off the bed. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Jadey mommy made pancakes if you want some” She piped up and ran out of the room.  
Jade laughed and spread his palm on my chest. “It looks like somebody else has a little crush on you”

“nah she’s just trying to be nice” I giggled. Jade looked into my eyes and gave me a long romantic kiss, his hands squeezed my thighs. 

“guess what?” I kept my eyes closed enjoying his lingering touch.

“The Insaints are playing at the Gilman Friday, and Hunter was wondering if we wanted to go. I said yes. I know you like them.” He kissed me again.

“Oh gosh really!? That’s great Jade.” 

“Yup, you know what that means right? Take comfy but cool clothes, It’s going to be a night of loud screaming, jumping, and sweaty guys in a little hole on the wall.” He was about to give me another kiss when Smith poked his head through the door.

“Hey guys, mom… made pancakes if you guys want some” Smith said with an ear to ear grin.

“yeah we know Aleesha came to tell us like five minutes ago.” Smith ran down stairs, Jade shook his head and rolled his eyes. “What is up with this family and their pancakes? We we better get downstairs before they eat them all and leave us with crumbs for breakfast” 

He got up and tossed my sweatshirt at me thinking that I was going to go through my routine as always. I caught it and asked myself if I should put it on, after all I had nothing to hide from Jade anymore. At least not physically to a certain extent. I tossed my sweatshirt to the side and put my t-shirt on from last night instead. I smiled to myself and waited for Jade by the door while he slipped into some slippers. He walked closer to me eyeing me from head to toe.  
“Aren’t you going to wear your sweatshirt?” He asked surprised.

I stood on my tippy toes and kissed him tenderly. I shifted my head so that my lips were touching his ear.  
“I’ve got nothing to hide form you.” I whispered instantly feeling his arms around me as he held me close.


	8. Banana sex at The Gilman

It was finally Friday and I waited for jade on the couch downstairs while he worked on last minute hair touch ups. Mrs. Puget sat next to me and wiped her hands on her apron before patting my back consolingly.

“Do want to snack on something before you leave sweetie? I can fix up something quick for you and Jade.” She offered reaching for my hand and holding it with both of hers.

“N…No thank you Mrs. Puget” I responded in a low voice.

She sighed and caressed a deep cut on my arm trying to make me more comfortable than I already was. Mrs. Puget and the rest of the family were still trying to get used to seeing me without a sweater. It had been two whole days since I didn’t wear it, and for once in a long time I was relieved that I didn’t have to walk around wearing a sweater in the middle of July. Today was my third day without it around the house, but my first day wearing in in font of Jade’s friends and I was already starting to feel insecure. I still couldn’t call them my friends not because they weren’t nice to me, but because I still felt scared around other people. Except for Jade.

“Well sweetie if you need anything I’ll be in the kitchen alright.”   
She looked into my eyes with sympathy and gave me a comforting smile. I immediately noticed where Jade got his caring nature from, and apparently eye color as well. She got up and left for the kitchen, her heels clicking quickly and happily as she saw Mr. Puget dip his finger into a saucepan for sampling .

“James Puget what in God’s green earth are you doing?”

“what oh…um…nothing… I was just”

“Use a spoon James!” She giggled.  
Their playful argument fading into the background as I began to sink back into thought. I wondered how Jade was going to treat me after everything.

“I hope he still loves me” I whispered to myself. The doorbell ringing after.

“I’ll get it Mrs. Puget” I informed her smiling as she began to rush into the leaving room.

“Thank you David” She returned to the kitchen glancing at me.  
I opened the door and instantly froze when I saw Adam and Hunter standing in the doorway smiling. It’s not as if I wasn’t expecting them, I was just no ready for anyone to see me without my sweater. Not yet. I stood there baffled holding my breath glancing at them. I couldn’t move.

“Hi Davey…uh may we come in?” Adam spoke cheerful with hands Jammed in his pockets. Hunter nodded happily next to him looking at me, tossing a pair of car keys between his hands.

I shook myself out of my shudder. “Y…Yes of course. Come in.”

They came in, both of them greeting me with a man hug. Hunter quickly noticed the absence of my sweater. “Davey you’re wearing a t-shirt.” Adam turned to look at me and grinned. “Yeah and a good one too. Joy Division. Good choice Dave.”

“Thanks” I blushed and continued to sit on the couch across from them. We remained silent until Adam looked up at me and began to speak. “What’s taking Jade so long?”

I looked at the floor trying to cover my arms form Hunters wondering eyes. He wasn’t just looking he was staring now, intensely. I turned my head to the left instinctively grabbing a cushion from the couch and held it tightly for safety.  
“He’s fixing his hair” I replied uneasily.

“Not anymore, come one guys before it gets packed!” Jade swiftly thumped down the stairs and greeted Adam and Hunter before heading to the door and opening it. I headed out behind Adam when Jade stopped me and held me by my shoulders analyzing me.  
“Davey, you ok?” I responded with a nod and smiled at him, he took me in his arms and closed the door behind us. We headed towards Hunter’s car and sped away.

Twenty minutes later we stood outside of the Gilman, waiting for a chance to stuff ourselves in. Everything was a mess, we waited but not in a line. Instead we all stood outside within a large motley crowd. Music was playing but it was definitely not The Insaints. The shredding of an angry guitar pierced through the silence and provoked the crowd outside to cheer for the music. I winced as the feedback from the mic reached my eardrums, looking to the side. I saw a girl standing there with stripped stockings and matching blue hair. I looked at her from head to toe awestruck by her bright hair. She must’ve felt my stare because she turned to look at me, and walked towards the entrance the minute the music stopped.

“Hi there Cutie” She winked at me and dragged one fingernail from my Adam’s apple down to my belly button. I shivered in disbelief as she continued towards the entrance.   
Jade glared at her and reached for my hand jealously, I giggled at his sudden outburst. Sometimes he could be so possessive. About a minute later music began blasting from the Gilman, and I recognized the sound.

“That’s them, come on Davey!” Jade pulled on my hand a relocated me in front of him so that we were pushing other kids inside. Once inside he held me tightly protecting me from the new born mosh pit next to us. We weren’t far from the stage, and I suddenly realized that the lead singer of the Insaints was the same girl that called me cutie outside. I was thrilled that she called me cutie yet a little disappointed because I didn’t recognize her. I was grinning and singing along at this point, excitement boiling at the pit of my stomach. Towards the end of the show my cheeks felt sore from smiling so much, Adam and Hunter were lost somewhere within the large mass of people, Jade and I were drenched in sweat.

My knees began to buckle under my weight, and I was thankful it was almost time to leave. The blue haired girl announced their last song, but before she began she asked one her band mates for a banana. I was confused at her request and then stared with horror as she began to fornicate with it. The crowd went silent for just a split second before going completely wild with the scene. Jade was motionless and his grip on me became loose. We were the only ones out of the crowd who weren’t cheering. I closed my eyes memories from that day flooding my mind.  
****  
“No…no…please don’t…not that …ow!” my face hot and clammy with tears.  
“Shut up and take it you Fag…c’mon TAKE IT!  
“NO… OWWW!” I felt my skin break.  
His mouth slobbering all over my back, while he broke me bit by bit.  
“Hmmm. That’s a good boy…now clench for me!” he commanded, roughly squeezing my cheeks while he pulled on my hair.  
“No… ow ow ow!”  
****  
I opened my eyes and felt hot tears burning my cheeks, I looked around and saw Adam and Hunter experiencing the same reaction as Jade and I. I turned my body away from the stage and began to head out, I couldn’t be here anymore. Jade noticed and came out after me. I was walking aimlessly towards the road when I felt Jades hand around my wrist.  
“Davey what’s the matter?” His tone worried. 

I instinctively rushed towards his chest for sanctuary. “J…Jade…I can’t take this anymore…we need to talk”  
He held me close protectively. “Shhh Davey Shh…what is it sweetie?”  
I sniffed and trembled my head still on his chest. “n…no…not here Jade”

He continued to hold me close rocking me back and forward until we heard running footsteps near us. “Wow, that was intense” Hunter stated still lost and out of breath from his jog “what’s wrong guys? He asked curiously. “Is everything ok…?” Adam asked dumbfounded. 

“well besides the banana sex back there.” he chuckled.  
Jade faced both of them “Hunter, can you take us back home please” Hunter nodded still puzzled and walked along side Adam to seek for his truck.


	9. Broken

Hunter had Davey and I home in no time. I thanked him and said goodbye, Adam who waved gloomily right next two him. Thirty minutes later I was cleaned up and sitting at the edge of my bed playing guitar out of habit, but not really paying attention to what I was playing. It was something I was doing to somehow mentally prepare myself for Davey while he showered. I remembered his face at the Gilman and felt uneasiness wash over me. He looked terrified, and helpless. He didn’t speak to anyone after the show his eyes said so much and yet nothing at all. I slowly looked up to the sound of my bedroom door opening and saw Davey come in. His hair was down and he wore sweatpants and a band tee, like the first time I combed his hair. He walked closer to me biting his fingernails, I got into a comfortable sitting position on the bed and padded the empty space next to me.

“What did you want to talk about Davey?” I asked prudently.  
He sat next to me taking his hand out of his mouth breathing slowly and evenly. 

“My parents died a year ago…car accident. It was raining, and they went to get a pizza for dinner. My little brother Mikey decided to tag along, he took his favorite batman action figure with him. He loved that action figure so much…it was a Christmas gift from me. My father lost control of the car and hit an eighteen wheeler…everyone died at the scene. I began to panic when an hour went by and there was no sign of them, until the cops gave me a visit and told me everything. With all my grandparents dead I had nowhere else to go, except with an uncle my dad rarely talked about. He always said he had a reputation of not being well liked.”

Davey began to get teary eyed and choked a bit before speaking again.

“The first day with him he gave me uncomfortable looks. Things hadn’t gotten bad just yet. A month into it things began to look bleak; he started out by cursing at me…first for getting home late after school. Later it progressed to him cursing at me for the way I looked, and then finally for no reason at all. I don’t remember exactly when he started, but I just remember I began to look increasingly bruised and cut. He would beat me everyday, he’d call me fag or whore…those were his favorite words. The name calling however eventually became part of my average day.”

Tears began to stain Davey’s sad face as he choked up again, this time bowing his head.

“Everything just looked like I lived with the typical asshole until one morning. It was before school, and was already dressed and ready to go. He sat in the living room drinking heavily, all I needed was some breakfast and then I would be on my way. Temporarily away form that hell. I started to pour some orange juice into a glass and it tipped over spilling everything. I knew what was coming so I quickly reached for a paper towel, but somehow he was quicker than me. Next thing I knew he was grabbing by the shoulders and screaming at my face.”  
****  
“You fucking stupid WHORE! Can’t you do anything right?” )  
****  
Davey was now trembling in fear and began to sob. All I could do was stare at the quivering mess before me.  
“He began to shake me , and he slapped me…hard. I told him I was sorry and that I would clean it up, but it was no use…he said that I was a whore and that whores showed their tits. He went for my shirt and took it off… he cut, pinched, and sucked on my nipples. I told him to stop but he wouldn’t, instead he slammed my head against the stove. That’s how I got this.” He ran his fingers over the one inch scar on his forehead and closed his eyes. His silent sobbing became low high pitched shrieks, like a puppy in pain. His calm breath was becoming erratic with each word he spoke.

“He started to grope me and kiss me…his filthy hands were everywhere while he unbuttoned his own pants. I cried for help desperate for someone to hear me, but no one heard anything. He pulled my pants down and squeezed my…my…penis”  
Davey whispered the last part hugging himself and hiding his face from me. While I continued to stare at him dreadfully.  
“His had pumped it several times, I don’t know why but it got…hard even though I didn’t enjoy it. I kept crying so he grabbed me by the hair and… shoved that… that… disgusting thing into my mouth.  
****  
“Listen you little whore, you better suck and make it wet if you know what’s good for you. SUCK IT FAGGOT!”  
****  
“He forced himself into my mouth…he was purposely making me gag so that the thickest strands of saliva would wet his…thing. After struggling with that he pushed me against the floor so that I was facing down. I was at a very vulnerable position. I was still trying to recuperate for his disgusting member coughing on the floor when I felt the tip of it on my cheeks. He ordered me to bend over but I was too scared.

****  
“Fine don’t bend over. It will be just as fun, let’s see how tight you are”  
****

“I felt him thrust into me without any warning, my body protested his entry the whole time…He slammed hard with incredible force until I felt hot liquid trickling between my legs…”  
Davey paused for a minute and made eye contact with me, His eyes transporting all the pain and sorrow in his soul back into mine.

“I…I was bleeding Jade…he didn’t stop until he filled me with his filth. I thought he was finished, but I was wrong. He grabbed a kitchen knife and carved… whore… on my back before spitting on me and wondering about the house. I put my clothes back on and headed for school, that was the only thing I could do. My gym teacher was the one that noticed I was bleeding. I told her I couldn’t run, I couldn’t even walk right…when she asked why I got up from the bench to leave, and she saw that I left a crimson stain on it. She was the one that called the cops.”

At this point I found myself crying along side Davey I held him tightly never wanting to let go. I wanted to find a way to make him feel better, or at least like his old self again. He was shivering and tears were flowing freely as held on to my shirt.

“He broke me and…It hurt…s…so much Jade… it hurt… it hurt” He declared between sobs. “ I miss my Family…I miss Mikey…I miss the way thing were before…he…he.”

I keep holding on and kissed the top his head as gently as I could “Shhh…it’s all over now…your safe”

“Jade…Jade…Jade” My name became his mantra while I rocked him in my arms.

“shhh It’s ok Davey.” Ten seconds later I was quietly singing him a lullaby. “you want to sing along Davey…?” There was no reply so I continued to gently hum the song. Davey went limp in my arms, I cradled his head with one arm and wiped his tears with my free hand. I pet his damp hair away from his face and laid him on the bed with me. I held on tight to him.

Davey had a lot going on in his life right now, the last thing he needed was a nagging boyfriend. I was going to be there for him always, whenever he needed me. However because of the horrors of his first sexual experience I was going to try and keep my distance. I don’t want to hurt him or make him feel forced to do anything he doesn’t want to do. It was going to be hard but it was something I had to do. I closed my eyes and drifted into sleep thinking about Davey. My Davey.


	10. The wise old owl

    I woke up the next morning to a loud banging on my door, I grunted and squinted my eyes. My arm was asleep as a result of Davey lying on top of it and holding my hand possessively, he must’ve been holding on to it the whole night. I gently lifted his sleeping head and slid my arm underneath, Davey stirred.

 “Mhnnn…no…don’t leave me” he pouted. “Shh baby…someone’s at the door” I whispered getting up as quickly and gently as I could from my bed. I opened the door and Smith crashed into me jumping up and down Grinning and Squealing with happiness. His arms squeezing the little oxygen I had out of me.

“Smith…what’s going…on?” I choked due to the lack of air, thankfully he let go shortly.

“GUESS WHAT!?” He announced loudly. I flashed at him putting my index finger against my lips.

“Shhh Smith…Davey’s sleeping” He instinctively slapped one hand to his mouth and continued to whisper soon after.

“Sorry…It’s just that mom and dad told Aleesha and I that we were going to our annual family camp next weekend. This time dad picked a different destination, since last years was pretty crappy. He booked a cabin. They have cabins Jade, no tent no fucking tent” He squealed the last part with much enthusiasm and gave me the tightest hug followed by a sticky fruit loop scented kiss. I smiled at him. Summer camp with the family would be a perfect distraction for Davey, it would be fun, away from people, and away from the city.

“That’s awesome Smith, you better start packing.” I said smiling at him closing the door after he took off running back to his room.

    I tip toed to my closet opened the door and made sure Davey wasn’t looking so could have an opportunity to get dressed. He was still sound asleep facing down, his back slowly rising with every breath. I tossed my pajama shirt off and locked my eyes on him, my stare instinctively traveling from his dark locks slowly down his back and finally stopping at his buttocks. I slid my pajama pants down and continued to look at his sleeping form, he looked so lovely. A cool breeze in the room reminded me that I was standing completely naked, with Davey sleeping just feet away from me. The truth is I feel very comfortable being naked around him, it felt right. I smiled at this thought and admired his beauty for a minute more. I felt myself slowly grow stiff and felt a pang of guilt. For god’s sake Davey had been raped not long ago, he barely opened up about it last night, and here I am selfishly getting hard while I watch him sleep. I grabbed the tightest pair of black skinny jeans I had, since I realized that after promising myself to keep a distance from him would be harder than I thought. Then topped my fabric chastity belt with a tight fitting faded blue tee shirt, and walked back to my bed lying down carefully. I brushed Davey’s hair back and looked at his soft features. I just wish he always looked this calm, this happy, but so far he only looked so when he slept. I held his hand and caressed it with my own, he delicately opened his eyes.

“mmm…Jade…what’s going on?” “Oh baby…nothing. We’re going camping next weekend.” His eyes fluttered open with a blossoming smile on his face. “I…I’ve never been camping. That’s great” He leaned closer to me expecting a kiss, but all I could do was unwillingly lean forward and wait for his move. His smile faded and his eyes bounced from mine to my lips.

“Jade. What’s wrong?” I looked at the disappointment that veiled his face and answered his question with the first mundane reason that dashed into my mind. “Nothing. I just have really bad morning breath, and I don’t want to gross you out.” Davey gave me a hurt unsatisfied look, and I felt the guilt started to ease in.

“But…you’ve kissed me with morning breath lots of times.” I was dumbfounded, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek to avoid further questioning. I pulled my face away from him and gave him a cautious smile.

He blinked a few times before unconsciously ghosting his hand over his cheek and sadly glancing at me. I decided to quickly take action by bringing something up. “Do you want to hang out with the guys, maybe a movie or something?” I asked casually. Davey continued to look at me and swallowed hard.

“um…yeah sure. Just let me get dressed” I smiled and gave him a small kiss on his forehead, jumping off the bed and grabbing my sneakers before storming out the door.

“I’m going to call them Dave!” I announced and thumped heavily downstairs and into the kitchen. One of my sneakers slipped out of my grasp and tumbled while I struggled to shove my right foot into the right sneaker. I faced the kitchen phone picking up the receiver and pounding Adam’s number searching for my lost sneaker. It rang twice and then I heard his deep voice on the other end of the line.

“Hellooo?” I snapped my head to the left and saw my shoe lying on it’s side. Clamping the receiver between my shoulder and my ear I reached for it and pushed my foot through it.

“Oh hey Adam, you want to go to the movies with Davey and I?”

Adam yawned “Oh gosh…what time?”

“like…right now”“yeah sure, I’ll tell Hunt” “Ok see you guys in a few minutes” “Sure man. Bye” I clicked the receiver down and made a double knot when I looked up Davey was standing in the middle of the kitchen observing my movements.

“I’m ready Jade. Does this shirt look ok on me?” He seemed a little insecure, my eyes traveled up and down at him. He wore a deep purple Nightmare Before Christmas shirt.

“You look great Davey, c’mon lets get going.” I quickly smiled and lead him to the door. On the way to the movies I tried to make small talk with Davey, but he would just nod regardless of what I said.

    Those seemed the longest minutes of my life. The minutes when he was solemn, quiet and withdrawn. I just hoped things got better once we met the guys. We finally got there and waited for the guys in the lobby a few feet away from the arcade games. My eyes darted around and I spotted them laughing not far from us, I raised my arm and waved in hopes of getting their attention. I glanced down at Davey and saw him deeply engrossed in a brochure that read “Ukiah Homes”.

“Hey guys! What’s up?” I gave Hunter and Adam a friendly high five and turned to Davey who gave them a slight smile.

“Nothing…so what’s it gonna be, a horror?” Hunter asked eager to buy the tickets.

“I’m up for some horror” I chuckled and turned to Adam and Davey raising my eyebrows questioningly. Adam simply smiled and he carefully observed Davey who was nervously folding the corners of the brochure timidly looking at Adam.

“How about a comedy?” Adam asked, his eyes still on Davey. He was about to say something when Hunter sighed heavily pulling on his thin hair on the verge of a tantrum.

“Nooo. The comedies this time are lame. They have one that’s a romantic comedy, a family movie, and like…I don’t know some type of air bud movie.” I laughed at Hunter’s reaction and out of the corner of my eye saw Davey lower his head. I continued talking to Hunter and saw Adam look down at Davey sympathetically placing a hand around his small wrist.

“Come on Dave, you want to go play pac-man?” Davey left the brochure and walked away with Adam leaving Hunter and I to make the movie decision. I stared at them and as they walked away and saw Davey coyly smiling at Adam as he placed an extra friendly hand on his shoulder, while he reached for the joystick. I felt a brick of jealousy drop on me.

“Hey Jade! You hoo…are you in there?” Hunter waved a hand in front of my face.

“Yeah…sorry.” I averted my eyes from the painful site and felt Hunters hand on my arm.

“What’s up with you and Dave man?” I jerked my head up and gave Hunter a surprised look.

“What. What are you talking about?” Hunter glared at me and shook his head.

“I know you love him, and it’s not the brotherly type of love. Adam knows too. Usually you guys are real close when we see you, but today Davey looks like his being ignored. What Happened?”

I froze at the sudden statement made by an apparently very perceptive Hunter I’ve never seen before. He continued to glare at me waiting for an answer. “How did you know?”

I felt my cheeks grow warm, and my hands get cold. Hunter gave a weak sigh and shook his head. “Jade please. We’ve all known each other since we were three. I know you love oatmeal cookies, you hate tofurky, your favorite color is purple, and your first crush in pre-school was “strange” Sally. We’re basically brothers from another mother”

I grinned at Hunters point of view. It’s true, my first crush was a girl nicknamed “Strange” because she had a thing for bugs and the color purple, she wore striped socks, and had freckles. I looked into Hunters eyes and jammed my hands into the back pockets of my pants. “Well. Davey finally spoke up about what happened last night”. I looked down remembering his gloomy face.

“His uncle raped him…it was horrible, he did horrible things to him.” I looked back up at Hunter who had his eyes glued on me, his mouth slack in shock.

“That’s awful, So why are you ignoring him?”

“I’m not ignoring him, I’m giving him space…to heal” Hunter blinked a few times.

“Well if you love him you shouldn’t stay away from him. You should be as close to him as you can, because he’ll just think your ignoring him.”

I stared at Hunter wide eyed with his sudden insightful perspective.

“Wow Hunt, when did you become the wise old owl?”

“Seriously Jade, If you love him as much as I think you do you should stay by him no matter what. If you can handle him at his worst you can certainly handle him at his best. I doubt that any of us have seen him at his best.”

I stared at Hunter with astonishment and nodded. “Thanks Hunt.”

“Any time man.” He gave me a nudge and flashed a reassuring smile.

“Now What’s it going to be comedy or horror?” I turned my head and saw Adam leaning too close to Davey who was smiling and facing away from him tugging on the joystick.


	11. Only one way out

*Davey’s Point of view*

   I had finally come clean with Jade. I just told him the facts, how my disgusting uncle would beat me, call me names, and how… he raped me. There was a lot that I still kept inside, the horrible little details that have stuck with me since that day .The details that keep me from having a normal life or even normal thoughts. I still remember every touch, every hit I took, his filthy hands slowly breaking every last bit of dignity within me. I kept my story as dry and simple as I could, and it’s a good thing too. This morning Jade was different. He didn’t want to kiss me, and I could see the repulsion swimming in his eyes. He was avoiding me and so far there was nothing I could do about it, just cope in disbelief.

   When we arrived at the movie theatre, he wouldn’t speak to me like usually would or even look me in the eye. Adam and Hunter showed up and he just discarded me to the side like the meaningless rag doll I had become. He and Hunter were in the mood for a horror flick and quite honestly I was not. I figured I  already had enough horror in my life, but he didn’t bother to even see if I was ok with it like he always did. His over protective demeanor had gone out the window as soon as I mentioned I wasn’t clean anymore. I’m just glad someone noticed my discomfort. For some strange reason Adam was being very nice to me today, he usually was but today it was different. It’s like he was trying to make up for something. It’s as if somehow the Jade I knew was now living in his best friend’s body as some kind of spirit.

“Come on Dave, you want to go play pac-man?” He held my wrist delicately with his large muscular hand, and without waiting for an answer began to lure me away.

He made me face the screen of the game sticking my hand to the joystick and pulling some quarters out of his front pocket. Locking eyes with me he grinned.

“I’ll make it a two player game, but you go first Davey.” He slid the quarters in and the screen began to flash. Stepping behind me he stuck out his lounge and challenged me.

“Alright Dave, lets se he good you are”

A few minutes into the game, adrenaline rushed through my body, and I found myself laughing happily. I haven’t played pac-man in ages, and I was amazed that I hadn’t lost my skills. I remember back when Mikey was around we would have our own little tournaments back at the arcade. We would play for the last cookie, for dibs on the TV that night, but most of the time it was just for kicks.

“Come one Dave get the orange…get the orange..” Adam cheered seconds before the little yellow pixelated mouth dashed through the orange marking the end of my turn. I turned to Adam and an ear to ear grin had bloomed on his face. “Dave, you’re so good how did you?...where did you…?”

I felt myself blush and glanced down not wanted to be seen. “I don’t know…I just like video games a lot”

“Pshh yeah I can tell man” Adam faced the screen this time. While he played I let my eyes wonder in search of Jade, and saw him talking to Hunter. They both had a very solemn look to their whole being, and didn’t seem to be discussing movies.  Hunter was doing most of the talking while Jade looked down and, swung his head to one side to get his long fringe away from his eyes. His hands were behind his back and he only spoke from time to time. I could tell they were discussing something important because Jade always nodded to everything the other person was saying. I could see it in his eyes, he was such a good listener.

“Booyah! Yeah! First time I don’t get attacked by the ghosts on the first round. Ok Dave you’re up.” Adam stepped to one side and we switched places once more. I began to sleep with my eyes open until I was staring blankly at the screen.

“Done.” I stated flatly and then grinned.

“How am I supposed to beat that?” Adam began to play his turn with his mouth wide open. Within a minute or so the red ghost devoured the little yellow mouth. “Ah Shit” He face palmed himself laughing. “now you’re going to beat me for sure”

I switched places with him one last time keeping my eyes on Jade. The screen flashed and I continued to play switching my view between Jade’s face to the flashing screen. My hand moving the joystick almost out of second nature.  I leveled up and left Adam laughing loudly.

“Aw man fuck it. I lost.” Adam declared and didn’t bother finishing the game.

  I continued to stare at Jade from afar. He and Hunter were buying the tickets but the girl in the booth looked like she was trying too hard to impress them with her over exaggerated movements. She had such large breasts that her white button down shirt and her red vest could barely contain them. Her blonde hair was tightly pulled back showing her rather large but straight teeth that were lined with large clown red lips. She looked more like the joker in drag than a young teen girl. She shook her head smiling at something Jade said and gracefully handed him some change waving goodbye “Miss America” style. Jade turned around chuckling and began walking alongside Hunter.

I could feel the anger and disappointment closing in on me and the only thing that kept me from drowning in it was Adams light grip around my wrist.

“Dave you ok?” Adam tugged on my arm a little to get my attention which he did a few seconds latter.

“Um…yeah…I’m fine.” I said, not realizing I was choking back tears that weren’t spilling just yet. Adam looked me in the eye and gave me a weak but gentle smile. By the time I realized what kind of look he was giving me Jade and Hunter were standing next to us.  I slowly glanced at Jade trying very hard to abandon the comfort in Adam’s eyes. Jade clenched his jaw and gave me a cold look and breathed loudly through his nostrils and exhaled the same way.

“Here are your tickets guys”  He quickly stretched out his hand handing Adam the tickets and walked away leading us all to auditorium seven. Jade picked a row in the middle and Hunter sat to his left, I sat to his right and Adam sat to my right. We were barely thirty minutes into the movie and a girl was already screaming her lungs out while a man in black hacked her with an axe. Large drops of blood splattered on the screen. The site really scared me, since not long ago I was in the same vulnerable position as she was . Every time the scary looking man would bring the axe down the auditorium would shake, sending my mind closer to the edge.

“Come’ ere pretty thing!” the man growled. “I’m not done with YOU yet hahaha.”  I shut my eyes tightly and instinctively reached for Jade’s hand, but he slowly pulled away swallowing hard. His Jaw tightly locked.

I couldn’t believe what he’d done. He never pulled away from my touch like that. I looked down at the dark floor trying my best to ignore everything. I don’t know what scared me more, this horrible movie or Jade’s sudden change in actions.  I frowned and stood up, planning to head home. Alone. I was already in the lobby when I heard Adam’s voice.

“Davey…what’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” I pointlessly lied still facing away from him. I couldn’t hold back the few tears of hurt that found their way out of me.

I heard his footsteps come closer and he gently spun me around, looking at me sympathetically. He held my hand tightly and walked me towards the men’s room. He clasped my shoulders making me face one of the faucets. The silence of the restrooms making me feel at ease.

“Wash your face with some cold water. It’ll calm you down” I stared at him a bit confused but obeyed bending over to wash my face. My hair kept getting in the way just like every time I had to brush my teeth, eat cereal, or read. I pushed some of it to the side but only in vain, a few strands were now soaking wet. I thought I was going to scream out a curse word any minute now out of frustration, but then I felt Adam’s finger tips at the nape of my neck. His hands pulled my hair back so that I could wash more comfortably. I shut the water off and came back up staring at Adam’s reflection as he still held my hair.

“Better?” He asked caringly.

“Yes. Thank you Adam.” My eyes went from his reflection to mine.

 “No wonder Jade loves you. Look at how beautiful you are, even on your gloomiest days” I smiled but then frowned again remembering Jade. I felt Adam shift my position again, he made me face him while he held my hands in his.  I felt something warm and heavy in my stomach, it felt like fire was burning through my insides. Then I recognized how good it felt to have Adam give me a little attention, or the slightest touch. He parted his lips to say something when I felt my head gravitate towards his, my body naturally following. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his slowly bringing  my hands up to his chest then I broke the kiss by turning and rested my head on his chest . For the few seconds that the kiss lasted I felt so warm, I wanted Adam to hold me. I wanted to feel comfort. I wanted someone to love me. Adam’s arms wrapped around my body.

“Davey. Jade loves you, what are you doing?” I looked up at him loosing myself in his deep blue eyes, that reminded me of heaven.

“No he doesn’t. It’s not like that.” I replied resentfully.

“Yes he does Davey. What are you talking about?” I sniffed digging my face closer to his shirt.

“No he doesn’t. He’s been holding back his touch from me, and he wouldn’t do that before. He probably thinks I’m…disgusting.” I confessed.

Adam  held my face in his hands. “I think you have it all wrong. I bet it’s all just a misunderstanding, don’t cry, you don’t want to ruin that beautiful face.” He snatched a paper towel and dabbed away my tears. I looked at him closely and felt lost. Confused to why he had been so nice.

“Bu…bu…but what about you?” He blinked rapidly and pursed his lips.

“What about me?”

“I…I thought you…had feelings for me.” I let my head hang low, embarrassed. He went for my hands again.

“Davey of course I love you. We all do, but Jade’s the one who’s in love with you.” He reached out for my face but I swat his hand away.

“Don’t! I wish all of you would just stop playing games with me. It hurts you know.” I leaned back and felt the sink push against my back, then I felt his body come close.

“Dave this isn’t a game. I love you, in a brotherly friendly way. I care about you, and I hate seeing you like this. I like to see you smile and I like to hear you hum your little songs. Jade will come around, maybe he’s just worried about you. Sometimes he gets like that. I know because I’ve seen him. It’s all going to be ok Dave. If you ever need anything just ask, a guy like you deserves all the happiness in the world.”

I smiled at Adam’s kindness and let him brush my hair back. “a guy like me?”

“Yeah. You’re sweet, and unique may I add. Now let’s get back to the guys before they come looking for us.” Adam swung the door open and motioned with his hand for me to go through. Perhaps  I was the problem, Adam was right. I think I’d gotten used to being mistreated and now when people were nice to me I would freak out. Now I just had to be patient and wait for Jade to “come around”.

   It was Thursday, a week after I spoke to Jade and a week of him keeping a cold distance from me. It was getting very close to the camping trip, we would be leaving Saturday morning and Jade wanted to hang out with the guys as much as possible.  If Jade at least didn’t give one of them a phone call we would end up going out, which was most of the week. If we didn’t go out with them they would come over, but it was always just them…and Jade. I really didn’t see the point of trying to engage in a conversation anymore, even though Adam kept giving me looks to do so. I could feel myself slowly grow bitter, I didn’t realize how abandoned I truly felt until they left Jade and I by ourselves.

   Tonight Jade and I were alone in the park after a day out with Adam and Hunter. They played a one on one game of basketball while I sat down and watched, humming. After the sun went down they went home, and Jade and I were suddenly forced to share uncomfortable silence. Whenever I speak to Jade all we share are uncomfortable silences much like when a nasty rumor goes around within a small group of friends, then you suddenly know that there is a huge elephant in the room. He would sometimes try to fill in the void of the dead silence with small talk, it always had to be something purely mundane and trivial.

“Fuck…I need to change my guitar strings again, maybe tomorrow…” He churned his lips walking slowly by my side. His hands were in his pockets while he looked down at a stone who was about to become his soccer ball.

“you know what happened to them?” He asked trying a little too hard to make the subject appealing. My eyes wondered off to a grasshopper who went silent as soon as we walked by.

“No…what happened? I asked without enthusiasm.

“While you were taking a shower, I was shredding and finished my solo with a strum that was too harsh and two of the strings popped.” He snickered and kicked the stone.

“Oh..” I replied sadly. He quickly switched topics and I automatically stopped listening. 

   On times like these I had trained my brain to just dethatch itself from the world. It was like wearing headphones in a crowded and loud area. I wasn’t saying much anymore, I never said much anyway so it’s not like it made a difference. It had been a week since the last time Jade held me in his arms or even brushed his fingers against my hand when we walked side by side. I’ve never been a person who communicated with words, I was always a deed kind of guy except when it came to writing. For some reason I could always just express my feelings a whole lot better through paper and pen or singing.

  After the incident I developed a lisp that I can’t seem to get rid of it with anything, so If I was quiet before now it’s worse. Since Jade wasn’t eager to “come around” I had to do something to find out if he still loved me the way he did before. I closed my eyes and out of sheer will power reached for Jade’s hand while he was speaking.

“Oh…sorry Davey…” He lightly moved his hand to the side thinking that we had accidentally bumped.

   I felt my stomach get heavy. I closed my eyes again bracing myself, and reached for his hand again. This time I hooked my index finger with his pinky and held it there for a couple of seconds before he pulled away again. That’s when I felt my heart begin to break. He continued talking casually as if nothing had happened. I swallowed bitter spit. Tears blurred my vision, and I decided to reach for his hand one more time closing my eyes again. My hand barely brushed against his and he quickly backed off, I could feel my heart shattering into a million pieces. I looked down and stopped dead in my tracks. I felt something coming, this was it…my anger, frustration and sadness all rolled into one emotion. Hate.

“Dave What’s wrong?” He asked calmly.

  Bitter bile came up as my chest began to feel heavy. I couldn’t take this anymore. I raised my head slowly letting  him look into my eyes that burned like acid with such negative force.

“YOU!” I screamed.

“What…?” He answered. A confused look plastered over his face.

I continued to look at him for a few seconds, and took off running. Letting my legs lead me away from the pain and away from it all. My chest felt heavy, and my lungs felt like they had no capacity at all. My legs wobbled and I tripped over them several times, everything was hurting, but nothing could compare to the pain Jade was causing me. I was getting tired of this, I had to leave, or do something. Jade was just going to be another open wound in my life.

 He was going to be the last wound I would have to endure ever again. The rejection was too much to handle, no one wanted me after what happened, not even Adam. This was all just a sick game and I was their plaything.  I couldn’t live like this anymore it was too much to take. I can’t do this anymore.


	12. Don't Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this while listening to gun's n roses' "Don't Cry. I'm telling you this in case any of you want to listen to the song while you read this chapter.

I ran as fast as I could behind Davey, and when I finally got home I suddenly realized that Davey wasn’t in the living room.  I carried on and looked for him in the bathroom to find nothing. I ran to my room and he was nowhere to be seen. I felt my stomach drop and panic made my thoughts run wild. Where did he go? Did he run away? What if something happened to him? What if someone picked him off the street and is trying to do awful disgusting things to him all over again? Oh no. Oh god no not my Davey…my angel.

”Where are you?” I whispered to myself.

 Tears began to flood my eyes when I heard sobbing coming from my closet, and I felt almost an immediate relief. Without hesitation I reached for my closet door and swung  it wide open to find Davey loudly sobbing on the floor . His hair was mess as if someone had purposely tried to make a bird’s nest out of it, he was wearing his sweater and by his feet there was an open bottle of aspirin, tiny chalky white pills were scattered all around the floor. I felt intense fear wash over me just as I grasped what he had done.

“Davey what did you do?” I whispered. Anger was beginning to mix with my fear of losing him.

“What did you do? I asked again this time crouching next to him. He wasn’t responding instead he continued to sob. As a consequence my hands flew themselves at his shoulders and I began to shake him hard.  Anger, guilt, and sadness fully mixed in me.

“Davey what did you do!?  I kept my grip tight on him, until he was looking at me with fear and a tear soaked face.

“Nothing. Jade nothing.” He choked out quietly. Too quietly for my brain to comprehend that he had done nothing, so I continued to shake him violently.

“What did you do Davey!?” I Screamed at him, tightening my grip.

“Jade…OW! you’re hurting me, please stop… st,,,sto…stop…ow.. I didn’t do anything”  He cried, fright laced his face. I calmed down and looked into his eyes, still holding on to him. It had just landed on me that I hurt him moments before and felt sorry.

“I’m sorry…” I pleaded quietly. “Why did you leave like that Davey? You scared me.”

 His sobbing persistent as he spoke. “Jade…Why don’t you touch me anymore, like you used to? You’ve been avoiding me since I told you I was…raped” He said the last word with deep sorrow and much regret. Barely a whisper, and form there his tone cresendoed. “You said you would love me no matter what! You said you would still want me! I feel so stupid!” He was screaming hysterically at this point, sobbing and tugging his own hair like a madman.

“Baby I’m…”

“NO JADE! Please let me apologize this time…”

“Baby wait… let me…” I stuttered helplessly watching Davey crumble. Grabbing chunks of his dark locks.

“No Jade ! I’m sorry that we found each other too late! I’m sorry I came into your life broken and tainted…with someone else’s taste all over me! Used like a fuck doll!  I’m sorry I disgust you with my impure body and that you’ll ever see the normal me!” He said the next part softly and mournfully “ I’m so fucking dirty and I’ll never be clean again. I’m so sorry Jade. I’m sorry.”

 I watched Davey finally crush under the pressure,  his hurtful words brought tears to my eyes and by this point we were both a crying mess. I was Stumped, and moved closer to him while he continued to cry in agony. I tilted his chin up so that he was looking at me. Our sad eyes truly meeting for the first time in days.

“Davey, I just wanted to give you some space…I never wanted to make you feel different or unwanted. I  still want you. I still care about you.  I still love you…always have and always will. You’re the most important person in my life.” I caressed his cheek with my thumb as I said so. He stared at me an sighed softly.

“You turned my world upside down.  You’re so beautiful, truly the most stunning creature I’ve ever seen. Believe me when I say that it was so hard for me to stay away from you. I crave you more and more each second, your kisses, your scent, your body. You drive me crazy Davey.”

His tears had decelerated, but I could tell he was still doubtful. He looked into my eyes and sniffed.

“If you crave me so much Why don’t you touch me? I thought you didn’t love me anymore so I thought about ending it all, but…I couldn’t do it…” His lips trembled as he spoke.

“I didn’t want to pressure you, or hurt you. If you were not ready, I didn’t want to force you to do anything. Davey, I love you more than anything in this world” I cupped his face with my hands looking deep into his eyes hoping he understood just how much I loved him. Tears began to threat his eyes again, a smile playing on his lips.

“Then show me Jade…show me” He pleaded in a shaky voice.

 His hungry eyes begged me for affection. I continued to stare into them and crashed my lips into his with the passion that had been lost for what seemed to be for years, knocking him down on the carpet.  I continued to kiss him impatiently tangling my fingers within his hair pulling his face closer to mine.  I could feel Davey squirming under my tight grip trying his best to breathe. My hands traveled down, over his chest and then his hips. I slid my lounge over his lips playing with his lip ring, a small moan from Davey echoed the room. He opened his mouth allowing me to explore the inside, or velvet tongues dancing together.

  I made a long trail of moist kisses from his lips all the way down to his collar bone. I could taste his sweet and salty sweat, giving him cat like licks in between kisses. My hands gravitated under his sweater and over his nipples. I lifted it to expose his bare pale chest and continued to suck and kiss his soft flesh. His eyes were lightly closed and his parted lips beaconed for mine. Giving him a deep passionate kiss I removed his shirt partially breaking contact. I continued to kiss him gripping his arms to hold him still. I straddled his waist being careful not to crush him, pealing my shirt off. We locked eyes, his hand slowly found its way to the center of my chest. Smiling I leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“Let’s get you somewhere a little more comfortable” I crawled off him and snatched him up off the floor provoking a surprised laugh from his lips. He then nuzzled close to my neck while in my arms. I sighed pleasantly and rested him on my bed. My mouth continued it’s journey of kisses on his chest stopping at his belly button.  I fiddled with his pants while my eyes wondered up to his face.

     His eyes were on me now,  he kept his hands straight, stiff and to the sides just a bit tense. I slid his pants off along with his briefs and carelessly discarded them to the side. Before looking at him I slid my own pants down until they pooled around my feet. This was, I could feel my stomach flopping with anticipation. My eyes slowly wondered from his toes up to his knees, his slender thighs, and finally stopped at his beautiful member. I swallowed hard and threw myself on top of him giving him countless wet kisses followed by a long ardent one.  One of my hands was at the small of his back while the other supported the base of his neck. My body rubbed against his silky skin quickly turning hot due to the amount of friction we were creating.

I carefully moved one hand in between his legs and placed it on his soft bulge, he didn’t flinch away which told me he was comfortable so I gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Mhmm Oh...Jade” His breath hitched.

I squeezed it once more and began to stroke him slow but with a tight grip.

“OH JADE!” He bucked his hips up and threw his head back. I squeezed harder and pumped slower several times before he began to shiver.

“Wait..Jade …I might come…stop.” He let out a long shaky breath and clamped his legs closed. His member was sticking straight up in full attention, pre cum glistening at the tip. I looked at him cautiously waiting for any sign to proceed. My hands caressed his hip bones which caused him to flutter his eyes open.

“Are you ready baby?” I coed. He nodded and at this my hands traveled from his hip bones under his knees. I carefully spread his legs apart and up, his entrance was now fully exposed. I gasped and looked at it with apprehension circling a finger around it.

“Davey, you’re so small. Are you sure you still want to do this baby?”

He took in shallow breaths and didn’t hesitate . “Y…Yes. Please Jade. Make love to me.”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his belly, then reached over to the nightstand and took a bottle of cherry scented lotion. I squeezed a generous amount on to my palm and worked it up and down my length. Then I smeared what was left outside of Davey’s entrance. I swallowed nervously and worked my index finger inside his tiny opening. He tensed as soon as my knuckle went past it.

“OW!”

I kept it inside and rested close to him, our faces met and I saw a small crystal tear roll down his cheek. “Shhh baby, I’m sorry.  I need you to relax for me. Ok?” Gently I slid my finger in and out his opening and slowly but surely he began to relax. He moaned and pushed against my finger biting his lower lip. I carefully added another and made a scissoring motion.

“Ow…Jade” He hissed through clenched teeth.

“Relax baby” I kissed him on the temple, feeling his body give in a little I finally added a third finger. He tensed again arching his back in pain.

“Oooow…Ow!” A few tears were now dampening his pale face. I slid my fingers out and laid on top of him holding him tightly trying to ease his pain. I could feel his heart pounding. I didn’t want to hurt my Davey, especially not during something so intimate. I couldn’t possibly go on and live with myself knowing I had caused him pain.

“J…Jade. Don’t stop…please…just…take me.” I kissed him ardently, tenderly and got on my knees positioning myself. I felt a wave fear wash over me

“Baby…just tell me if it hurts so I can stop. Ok?” Davey nodded smiling and wiped his eyes.

I lined my length with his opening anticipating what would come next. Swallowing my fear I pushed the tip inside which caused Davey to moan loudly and clench his tight ring of flesh. His hands shot up for my biceps, fingernails dug into my warm skin. He began to gyrate his hips clamping down on my length. My hands caressed his abdomen that flexed with every frantic movement he made.

“mmm…oh Jade…more…more” He tossed his head side to side, sending his dark locks every which way. I granted his wish and pushed in a little further. It was only half way in, but it was enough to make Davey pant and whimper.  I was struggling so much to control myself, it felt like he was suffocating me with his tight heat.

“baby…you’re so hot” I caught my breath and stroked his legs with my fingertips, as a result he scooted closer and pushed my length in deeper. A little too fast for his liking.

“OWWW!” I stared at him wide eyed and held my hands up like a criminal caught in the act.

“Are you ok..?” I brushed a few damp strands of hair that were sticking to the side of his face. He looked a lot more pallid than usual, scared , and I could tell he was holding back scream. I pet his hair and wiped a few drops of sweat away.

“Baby… be careful. Don’t rush it. We have all the time in the world.”  He nodded still a little scared. I looked around the room, my eyes stopped on a pillow that was behind him. I reached for it carefully not wanting to hurt him. “I need you to raise your hips a bit sweetie” He raised his hips cringing a little as he did so. I placed a hand behind his back while I adjusted the pillow just under his hips for comfort. He kept his eyes on me.

“Just relax baby” I held the back of his thighs pushing his legs up and rested them on my shoulders. My hips delicately moved forward pushing my length all the way in. He arched his back and threw his head back mute first. I moved in and out slowly picking up a rhythm. He moaned loudly and gripped the sheets wringing them.

“OH..JADE! OH GOD!”  I gave him bruising kiss swallowing his moans careful not to wake anyone .  He ran his fingers through my messy hair.

“I…Want you…Davey” I said with a husky voice while my hips prodded forward in a slow steady pace. He crunched forward and kissed me with his eyes open, trying to breath slow.

“I want you too Jade…” He said breathlessly. His words turned me on so much, my head was beginning to spin. The tight heat around my length was suffocating, and it felt like my heart was going to stop any minute now. I wanted to go faster and harder but I refrained from doing so afraid of hurting my angel. I spread his legs wide finally setting them down, and gently kneaded his small tummy. I let my hands wonder down to his member and began to pump him desperately trying to control myself.

“Harder Jade… harder!”  He pleaded. I let my hand pump him harder, until my forearm burned.

“No…no…not that.” He breathed out.

 I obeyed and sped up my thrusts, as fast and hard as I could until I hit his sweet spot.

“OW!” He screamed panting then let out a frustrated breath.

“More! More Jade!..More!..ghaa” He shook his head side to side whipping his hair around.  He acted so frustrated, like a baby who was desperate to feed from his mother. Wanting to give Davey the most pleasurable night of his life, I picked him up so that he was now sitting on my lap straddling me. He gasped and kissed me desperately while our hands ran wild on our bodies, exploring every inch of hot clammy skin. I bucked my hips up probing deep inside Davey, slowly dragging my tongue from his nipple all the way to his ear.

“How’s this baby…?” I breathed hungrily.

“Keep going Jade…Oh… OH… OH!” He arched his back and tossed his head back in ecstasy along with his arms. I quickly cradled his body with my arms. He gyrated his hips and hopped  lightly on my length, pushing it in deeper and deeper each time.  His hot and moist member bouncing between us. I couldn’t hold on any longer, the heat we shared was beginning to burn everywhere now and I felt myself getting closer. I brought him up so that our sweaty faces touched, but we didn’t kiss. Instead I ran my thumb over his lips enjoying the softness wishing this would never end. He looked at me with sleepy bedroom eyes.

“Baby…I’m getting closer. What…what do you want me to do?” We locked into stare and he gave me soft kiss before whispering to my face.

“Come inside Jade…make me feel clean again.” At this I held him close and tight against me. My head was spinning and my vision began to darken with each heartbeat. The sweet sound of love and sex was slowly drowning with the blood rush invading my senses. One second I felt everything, Davey’s breath, his whip like hair lashing around, his clammy skin, and then the next I felt nothing. All the feeling was being drained from me going directly inside of him. I thrusted one last time getting every drop of my seed inside, and flopped back  falling off the bed bringing Davey down with me. I felt ants crawling all over me. My vision was slowly coming back now. My heartbeat became steady and my breath became a long slow sigh.

 I held Davey by the waist with one hand and caressed his long hair with the other. He was still breathing rapidly and convulsing. I brushed his hair back and studied his face, and found him staring blankly at my chest smiling.

“I…I love you…Jade.” He confessed drawing invisible circles on my chest.

“I love you to Davey.” I whispered closing my eyes enjoying his love infused aroma, and the serenate of the summer time crickets. Now that he is in my life I would never need anything else again. My life was complete and my soul will never be unsatisfied. The richest man on earth couldn’t pay me enough to let go of the most important treasure in my life…Davey.


	13. We found love

*Davey’s Point of View*

  I felt the sunlight ribbons kiss my skin , and slowly opened my eyes adjusting them to the sudden orange tint that flooded the room. I took a deep breath in and noticed Jade’s warm skin underneath me. An arm was delicately draped over my waist, the other supported his head.  I’d almost forgotten that we made love the night before. Everything happened so quickly it seemed like a dream, just wonderful. I couldn’t believe he still loved me after all. I looked up at him, his eyes were lightly closed and a gentle smile adorned his face. This is the first time I’ve seen him sleeping, he looked so cute, calm, and downright sexy, or maybe it was the dopamine finally getting to my head. I kissed his chest and held his arm just high enough to roll off him, when he startled me by rapidly holding me tightly. I found myself helpless in his strong grip.

“Ahhh! Jade…NO…NO AH! Hahaha!” He began to tickle me everywhere with his long fingers, while we both laughed hysterically.

“Come’ ere Davey hahaha…come ‘ere” I struggled to breathe. He squeezed me so hard I thought I was going to lose control of my bladder.

“JADE STOP!...Stop…sto..” He suddenly silenced me with a bruising kiss loosening his grip on me stroking my back. I felt something drip between my legs, at first it was warm but as it was dripping out it began to cool. While Jade was still kissing me I smeared it with my hand and looked down breaking the kiss.

“What’s wrong baby?” Jade looked down with me. I thought I was bleeding for some reason, but then relaxed when I saw it was a bit clear and sticky.

“Nothing…I just need a shower. Like Now.” I laughed getting up when I felt Jade pull me down on the floor again. I Stared at him in surprise as he eased my legs open and began to lick me all the way from my opening to the front.  His tongue lapped all over my inner thighs and he finally rested his lips on the tip of my penis giving it little sucks.  I closed my eyes enjoying the feeling of Jade’s lips massaging my body. His Tongue was taking over now, it went from my penis  up to my nipple. I heard Jade giggle and felt my arms being pinned up, while my eyes remained closed waiting for Jade’s following move.  I suddenly felt his wet tongue on my armpit,  and shot my eyes open.

“J…Jade..” He was too occupied licking that his only response was a moufled grunt.

“What are you doing?” I asked wide eyed. He finally came back up licking his lips and rubbed his cheek against mine.

“I didn’t get a chance to taste you last night.” I blushed  and brought my arms down on his back scratching it lightly. I gave him a soft hug and  bit into his shoulder playfully,  all of a sudden there was an unexpected  knock at the door.

“Jade…Davey…are you home?  Mommy, Daddy and Smith went to the stow and I’m all a..a…alone” It was Aleesha and she was sniffing, her little cries could be heard through the door. I looked at jade quickly pushing him off me and searched for clothes. I slipped my sweater and some sweatpants on, while Jade did the same on the oposite side of the room visibly shaking in panic.

“Yes Leesha we’re here! Hold on!”

“Ok Jadey…” I heard a muffled cry followed by a shriek. I was putting my hair up when Jade opened the door and Aleesha quickly ran past him to hug my leg. She was very scared and had tears running down her cheeks. I looked down at her fixing a few stray hairs from my messy bun.

“Don’t cry Aleesha, it’s ok baby girl.” I soothed picking her up. She wore her lilac bunny footy pajamas and as always teddy by her side in one hand. I padded her tiny back while I rocked her in my arms. Jade walked over to take her for me, but she shook her crooked pigtails side to side.

“No…I want Davey!” She replied burring her face deeper into my shirt. I saw a hint of hurt in Jade’s face and kissed her head.

“Aleesha I need a bath sweetie,  stay here with Jade ok?” She looked up at me frowning, her large honey eyes still glazed with tears.

“Can I stay with you Davey?” I smiled at her innocence and nodded.

“No Aleesha you need to stay here with Jade…ok?”  She placed her miniature hands on the sides of my face and kissed my left eye.

“Ok…just cause you asked Davey.” I smiled kissing her head and handed her to Jade, who gave me a “what in the world ?” look.

 

 I quickly snatched a clean towel from the closet and headed for the shower, removing my shirt on the way. I took off my pants, let down my hair and turned the faucet on. While I waited for the water to adjust to the right temperature I looked at myself in the mirror. Only a few cuts were staring back at me now,  for the first time in months I smiled at my reflection. I still smelled like jade’s musk , my hands slowly ran over my body remembering the night before, his kisses, his fervent touch, his hot breath on my body were forever engraved in me.

 He made me feel so beautiful, sexy, and wanted.  I noticed my reflection started to get foggy so I scurried into the shower and stood underneath the warm spray, regretting the fact that Jade’s mark was being temporarily washed off. I worked my vanilla shampoo into a lather and massaged it into my scalp.  While the shampoo suds did their job I scrubbed my hot skin with a loofah until suds tickled my body. I turned the faucet to cool the water down and rinsed off. Careful not to fall, I wringed my hair and stepped out of the shower wrapping the towel around my waist.

“I’m out Jade.” I announced swinging the door open and now getting closer to our room. I walked in and Jade gave me a Devious smile, Aleesha was gone.

“C’mere Davey…” He teased . I looked at him apprehensively and tippy toed closer.

“Where’s Aleesh…” He stood up and kissed me resting his hand on my hip, breaking the kiss ten seconds later.

“She went to get her coloring book. I’m going to take a quick shower and head for the store, I need to get something for the trip. Can you watch Leesha?”

“Of course” I stared,  still baffled by his libido. I entered the closet and got a pair of pink and black pinstriped skinny jeans. I slid them on and skipped briefs.

  My hand moved across my closet space scanning for a shirt when it bumped a small cupcake printed bag causing it to tumble down. I picked it up and recognized it right away, it was my make up bag. I zipped it open and pulled out a wine colored lipstick, mascara, tweezers, white pressed powder, silver glitter, a small skull & bones mirror, and my trusty black eyeliner. All of wich hadn’t been worn since the incident, just the light scent from it brought innumerable memories. I stretched a black Bauhaus shirt over me and clutched the bag to my chest closing my eyes walking towards the bed and sitting on it. I pulled out the mirror and ran my thumb over the glass before looking at my reflection.

Scenes of the past flew across my mind, and as I remembered Mikey’s smile, my mother’s blueberry pie, and my stepfather’s cologne,  I smoothly smeared the eyeliner along my waterline smudging it with my ring finger. My hand sunk itself into the bag and picked out the silver glitter, when I caught Aleesha out of the corner of my eye wobbling around. She had a tower of coloring books stacked up so high they blocked her sight. I sucked in air afraid that she would hurt herself, and hurried to her rescue.

“Aleesha…sweetie, be careful. You could fall baby girl” I warned taking her books for her and grabbing a hold of her tiny hand.

“Thanks Davey.” She struggled to climb on the bed while I sat down cross legged. I observed her tiny cub like body move closer to where I was. She gasped and smiled holding my face still for a better look.

“Davey…your eyes look so prettyful. What did you do?” I felt blood rush to my cheeks and pushed my hair back.

“ Thanks Aleesha. I’m wearing eyeliner, then I’m going to sprinkle some glitter on.” I took the canister of silver glitter and dipped my middle finger in it then gently patted the silver shimmer on my eyelids. I could feel Aleesha’s curios stare invade my actions.

“OH IT’S SO PRETTYFUL! Could you do the same for me Davey?” She eagerly bounced on the bed.

“Of course Aleesha, come’ ere” She got on her knees in front of me and as I began to glide the eyeliner on she started to jiggle a little out of excitement.

“Honey, I need you to stay still ok? I don’t want to poke your eyes” I warned.

“Sorry Davey”

I continued to apply the liner finishing with one eye and then started on the other.

“Close your eyes.” I finished by adding a little shimmer to the top of her lids. Her face was so small applying makeup was a breeze. Before I knew it I was staring at a miniature version of myself.

“Ok Sweetie open your eyes” She obeyed smiling looking directly at me. I analyzed her overall look. There was certainly something missing. Her pigtails were messy strands of hay. They were crooked and looked as if she had cat back comb them. It was a hair nightmare. I giggled taking a hairbrush from the bedside table.

“Turn around girlie, I’m going to fix your hair.” She turned and sat between my legs. I removed her bands and began to brush her long tangled hair over and over until it was silky straight. The chamomile color was instantly enhanced with the sunlight that peeped through the blinds. Parting her hair I formed one pigtail tying the band around it to fit just right, not too tight and not too lose. The trick now was to get the second one in line with the other. I estimated the distance between the two pigtails and began to tie the second band. I smiled to myself and smoothed the two pigtails with my hands. They were as soft as wheat and as golden as honey.

“Ok kiddo…you’re all set.” She snatched the mirror and looked at herself.

“Oh Davey you made me so sparkly!” She said beaming “and my pigtails, they’re straight! Oh Thank you thank you thank you!” She squealed wrapping her arms around my neck and stamping numerous kisses everywhere she could. I closed my eyes and hugged her back when I heard footsteps enter the room accompanied by Jade’s out of breath voice. His hair was still damp from the shower.

“Got it. Are you packed and ready Leesha? Mom and dad are down stairs getting all the bags into the car.” Jade dashed across the room and picked up the bags that we had packed two days before. Aleesha was still hugging me while I rubbed her back.

“Yes Jadey, I just don’t know what coloring book I should take.” Jade shrugged ignoring the childish concern opening a compartment from the front of the bag, and stuffed a small bottle of thick clear something into it. He zipped it closed and let out a short breath resting his hands on his waits.  A mysterious smile lingering on his lips.

“Leesha go get dressed, and get your duffle bag .”

“Ok…look what Davey did for me Jadey!” She bounced up and down on the bed waiting for him to turn around.  Jade did a swift 180 turn and seconds later his jaw dropped.

“Leesha you look so adorable, oh and your pigtails aren’t crooked anymore” He grinned examining Aleesha’s long pigtails with one freckled hand.

“Davey looks prettyful too Jadey!” Jade kissed her forehead and turned his head to look at me. His smile slowly faded while he looked into my eyes. There was something behind his stare and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It seemed like a mixture between astonishment and pure lust. I coyly pursed my lips and looked down, but occasionally looked up to meet his piercing eyes.

“He does look prettyful. Go get ready Leesha we’re leaving in a few.” His stare was fixed on me as he spoke. Aleesha jumped off the bed and sprinted towards her room mumbling something on the way. Jade waited to hear her door slam and sat by me on the bed. His hands went for my thighs and he began to squeeze them. I closed my eyes and parted my lips in response, holding my breath.

“Jade…don’t..” I felt movement and then his lips on my jaw bone.

“Baby, you look so sexy.” His lips slid down my neck, and I felt a warm hand begin to fondle in between my legs. My eyes fluttered open and fear coiled itself around me.

“Jade no…don’t… stop…” His hands went further up my thighs and found their way to my butt. He began to kiss me wantonly on the neck. Whispering in between kisses.

“You look so beautiful…”

“No…Stop…someone… could see us..” Panic, as well as Jade’s tongue had found their way in me. The excitement and fear of someone walking in on us set me at edge. I struggled to breathe  against Jade’s bruising kiss and gently pressed my hand to his chest pushing him back. The kiss broke and a few seconds later his hands moved away from my thighs and rested on a more appropriate place, his lap. My arms crossed themselves on my chest, the pounding of my heart slammed against my ribs. Suddenly I felt my hand being pulled away from me, Jade had made niche for it in between his own two hands.

“Sorry Davey, I couldn’t help myself. You look so…handsome. I’ve never seen you like this before…the liner really brings out your bedroom eyes, but I promise next time I attack you I’ll shut the door” I looked up modestly and felt a smile tug my cheeks.

“Thanks Jade, I wanted to surprise you.” He leaned his head forward and gave me a soft kiss absent of a drop of  lust. It was a simple yet very affectionate kiss that said it all. I enjoyed the comfort soaking me as I felt warmth conquer my pores. We pulled apart in sync when I heard a gasp by door. I snapped my head to the side and immediately suffered a relapse. All my fears and anxieties were staring back at me, they made my blood run cold and had a face. The face of Aleesha.

My stomach churned as Aleesha and I locked into an awkward stare. Her mouth slack, head slightly tilted to one side, eyes teary.  She stood near the doorframe and bounced her stare between Jade and myself. I was beginning to panic all over again, and felt Jade shifting around next to me. He rubbed his bicep nervously and gave Aleesha the most natural smile he could fake at the moment.

“H…Hey Leesha…did you need something?”  
Aleesha glared at Jade and gave me a look of hurt. Her lips frowned while tears began to flow.

“W…why’d you k…kiss Dabey?”  She sprinted towards me, dropping teddy by the door and climbed on my lap burring her face in my shirt. Her voice broke several times in the middle of muffled sentences until she gave up and continued to cry hugging me tightly. Jade swallowed hard and looked away before placing two fingers over Aleesha’s shoulder, and had them swatted away by her tiny hand. I looked at Jade and held her in a gentle hug smoothing her back with one hand.

“Leesha…I” Jade began nervously. “I…well, Davey and I…ok just please don’t tell…” Jade’s helpless explanation was then drowned by the sound of Aleesha’s loud shrieks.

“ I made his boo boos better,  I used peroxide like mommy said to use on my boo boos which…I don’t even do for myself , I used my heart ban-aids on him, I’ve been nice to him like you told me to… It’s not Fair” Aleesha continued to cry in my arms while Jade and I stared at each other in confusion. I took a deep breath in, and held her head against my chest trying my best to find out exactly what she thought she saw.

“Aleesha…What’s not fair honey?”

She looked up blushing, still crying and didn’t hesitate to give me an answer. “I’ve been a good girl. Way nicer than Jadey and Smith…Don’t I deserve a kissy too?”

I let out a sigh; relieved and smiled calmly amazed at how sweet and innocent children are. It seems they see only pure love and nothing else. I looked at Jade and noticed he had a few drops of sweat sliding down his forehead that went great with the “Oh god that was close” smile he was giving me.

“Yes you do Aleesha, you been so sweet to me since the minute I stepped into this family” I held her tight and kissed her little cheek making a happy suction noise as I did. She giggled and her once lightly tanned skin turned bright red.

“Better?” I asked grinning.

“One more Davey…one more” She cheered. I hugged her and leaned to place a kiss on her forehead. She buried her face into my shirt once more shortly after trying to hide, giggling wildly. Jade looked at me with dreamy eyes followed by a wink.

“Jadey…can you help me get my duffle bag downstairs pretty please” Aleesha chirped. He laughed and touched one of her pigtails.

“Sure thing cutie pie” Jade got up and retrieved teddy by the door followed by Aleesha’s hot pink duffle bag and began to stomp downstairs and out the door. I picked Aleesha off my lap  and then placed her  on the floor taking a hold of her hand. We would probably leave any minute now, a symphony of doors slamming, zippers zipping, and keys jingling echoed the walls of the house.  I sighed turning my head towards the window and saw that Jade had packed two more bags, what for? I could have sworn we packed everything we needed. I shrugged off the thought and pulled  the duffle bags off the floor and looked down  at Aleesha cringing. What the hell did he pack?

“Do you have everything you need Aleesha?” I choked out breathlessly.

“No I still need to pick a coloring book…can you help me pick one Davey?” she tugged on my pant leg and let her puppy eyes persuade me.  I couldn’t say no to that little face, even if it meant holding two extremely heavy duffle bags on each hand.

“Sure honey” She held my wrist and lead me to her pink princess palace down the hall.  There were bunnies, unicorns, and butterflies all around her room. The walls were light pink and lavender with glitter sprinkled on random areas of the girlie artwork that  covered them, and at the center of the room stood her canopy style bed with pink veils that draped down gracefully. By her bed there was a white bedside drawer with a large pink gem for a knob, and by it there was another large stack of coloring books similar to the one she had previously taken to Jade’s bedroom that morning.  I wondered how such a little girl could color so much, because the stacks of books over towered her petite frame. She squealed and kneeled by her collection, picking a thick coloring book from the top of the stack.

“This one is brand new…all the pages have zoo aminals” I raised one brow trying my best not to laugh at the way she said animals.

“…this one’s a Smurffs book…uh…let’s see…Rainbow Brite…”She continued to give me her infinite list when I finally decided that this would take a while and sat the bags down in one sudden motion. My shoulders popped along with my knotted neck.

“Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty…um…Strawberry Shortcake, Scooby Doo…”

“Aw how cute” I commented taking the Hello Kitty book and sitting next to Aleesha. I flipped through the pages and most of them were still blank. Aleesha’s melodic voice faded away while I idly traced the monochromatic picture of Chococat and Hello Kitty playing with a ball. As my fingers ran over the page my mind took a trip, I remembered Mikey. The way he would doodle something after everyone had gone to bed and left it inside my diary for me to find it the next morning. He was such a good artist, for being five years old . Once he drew rabbit for me after I told him I was fond of them and slipped it under my door. My eyes were still on the blank page when a heavy tear splattered on it with an audible thump, I sniffed. Aleesha turned around gasping and immediately threw her arms around my me.

“Davey…don’t cry…what’s wrong?” I smiled sympathetically petting her hair.

“nothing I just…really like Hello Kitty. They’re …happy tears.” She looked at me closely and gave me a  kiss barely touching the corner of my lips.

“Should I take the Hello Kitty one then?  I like it too, but I don’t want to make you cry.” Her large eyes glued on mine.

“Yes..” I said carefully wiping my eyes. “Hello kitty is very cute, and look…” I flipped through the pages leaning the book towards her. “Most of them are blank so you’ll have a lot to color.” She smiled taking the book from me and got a box of crayons from her bedside drawer.

“Ok Davey!” she grinned. “I’m ready”.

“Alright guys…time to hit the road!” Mr. Puget announced loudly” I quickly got up and managed to pick up the duffle bags as best I could, Aleesha skipped ahead of me making her pigtails dance to the rhythm of her skipping.  I waddled side to side and felt like my legs were going to collapse with the extra weight of the bags. Mr. Puget spotted the bags and  immediately rushed to me.

“Whoa there David! Let me get those for you son.” He took a bag from me and effortlessly tossed the other one over his shoulder, leaving me panting at the top of the stairs. I watched his slender yet muscular frame walk out the front door. My legs began to take me downstairs, but buckled on the way. For a moment I felt like the tin man in dire need of an oil can. It was just three more steps to get to the bottom when I felt my knees buckle again and fell forward face first; hard into the wooden floor.

 My nose felt numb with a slight sting, but then pulsating pain began. I groaned frozen on the floor for a few seconds and immediately tasted a tart metallic liquid seeping it’s way past my lips.

“Argh…Ow…Ow” I rolled over and cradled my nose with both hands smearing some the warm liquid. I was still shaken by the fall and laid there for a while trying to will the pain away when I heard Jade walk in.

“Davey are you rea…OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED!?”  He ran and slid across the floor halfway there. His strong arms lifted me slightly off the floor for a better look.

“I fell…My knees felt weak, and I fell. They’ve been like that since I woke up.”  Jade pulled out a tissue from his back pocket and began to tentatively wipe my nose.

“Baby…you’re bleeding. You have to be careful especially with these stairs, they’re kind of old.” I cringed and wiggled my nose.

“It wasn’t the stairs…my legs just gave out…” He continued to wipe my nose when Mr. Puget walked back into the living room and calmly came over to the spot I was on. A look of concern shadowed his slender features.

“What Happened David?

“I fell…OW!” I yelped after Jade rubbed my nose a little too rough.

“Sorry…” Jade said; momentarily lifting the tissue.

“How son?  I thought I’d saved you that fall” Jade wiped one last drop of blood and turned to look at his father.

“He says his knees gave out.   You ok Davey?” His head moved closer for a better look.

“Yes…just feels a little numb, but I’ll be alright. Thanks.” Mr. Puget giggled while he pondered on something. He rested  an elbow on the wooden handrail of the stairs and crossed his legs while standing.

“Your knees gave out…is there someone special out there who makes you weak at the knees?  I think that might be it son, there is no other reason for your knees to just spontaneously give out.” Jade and I looked at each other wide eyed and grinned trying to contain our laughter. Jade’s eyes sparkled with joy as soon as Mr. Puget’s words dawned on us.

   Mr. Puget grinned and gave me a hand to help me up. I felt a pulse in my nose as I smiled. We all headed out and Mr. Puget locked the door shut sighing loudly and turned to face us. He placed the keys in his pocket and tilted his head looking at the sky.

“My knees would give out every time I saw your mother…she looked beautiful.”  He made a face and looked at us rephrasing his previous sentence.

“She always looks beautiful, but on our first date she wore the most gorgeous taupe dress.  It made it official that she was the loveliest woman on the block. In the world. I understand how you feel son.”

He placed a large comforting hand on my shoulder and looked at me, then placed his other hand on Jade and did the same.

“I know both of you have found someone, I could see it in your eyes; they shine. Young love.” He walked to the driver’s seat and started the engine with a loud roar.  Jade and I shared one last intimate look before getting in to the care, since we’d probably wouldn’t have many chances to do that during the trip.

**Author's Note:**

> I had posted this story years ago on afislash.com when my name used to be xBlackWingEmbracex. The site hasn’t work in a long time, but fortunately I saved all my work on a thumb drive.


End file.
